Why Be a Mentor?
"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." Source: Winston Churchill. Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge and expertise with others? Being a mentor can be a powerful experience that produces great benefits for both the mentor and mentee, tangible and intangible. Sun Microsystems compared the career progress of approximately 1,000 employees over a 5-year period and this is what they found:
- Mentors were SIX times more likely to have been promoted.
- Both mentors and mentees were approximately 20% more likely to get a raise than people who did not participate in the mentoring program.
- 25% of mentees and 28% of mentors received a raise – versus only 5% of managers who were not mentors.
Being a mentor affords you the opportunity to give of yourself in a unique relationship that may benefit you in many unexpected ways:
- Learn something new: A mentor/mentee relationship adds value to both parties. You will learn from your mentee. They may have skills and knowledge that you don't possess. The mentor/mentee relationship may stir your creative juices and give you a fresh perspective on your own career.
- Increase employee retention at your company: 77% of companies with mentoring programs were effective in increasing retention. Source: The Center for Creative Leadership.
- Improve productivity: Managerial productivity increased by 88% when mentoring was involved verses an only 24% increase with training alone. Source: ASTD.
- Personal satisfaction: Being a mentor provides a level of personal satisfaction that is priceless. It affords you the privilege of giving back or just giving of yourself for no reason at all.
"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." Source: Mother Teresa. Join MentorCity™. Be that leader. Be a mentor. You can make a difference one person at a time.
Learn more about mentoring.
