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What To Look Out For In A Mentor

What exactly is mentoring? Mentoring is the process of being alongside someone to act as a support in their spiritual, personal or professional development.

It takes many forms and there are several different kinds of mentors but usually it is someone who is either a trusted friend or a guide or counselor.

The process of mentoring has proven to work well and has a high rate of success in most circumstances, whatever they may be. It is a fact that the majority of successful human beings were mentored at some point in their lives.

When you begin a mentoring program, the desired end result should be in your mind.

You should know the following:-

- Why do you want a mentor?
- What do you hope to achieve by being mentored?
- How will you measure you success?

When trying to find the right mentor for you, think about the points below:-

- Find someone who is further along the path than you are
- Make sure that particular someone works with the same values as you do
- Choose a mentor who you can relate to
- Your mentor has to be readily available at the times you need him or her

Your mentor should:-

- Be accessible by telephone as well as face to face for a chat
- Be keen to partake in your mentoring and be part of your development
- Encourage and inspire you and join in with the celebrations when you succeed
- Ensure you meet your deadlines like they were their own
- Be well connected and able to help you gain access to others when necessary
- Help you to set achievable goals, in a realistic yet challenging way
- Help you with ways in which to achieve your goals
- Give you constructive feedback on your performance (including your failures)
- Help you to find the solution to obstacles in your way
- Be willing to share their own resources in a way which will help you create your own
- Inspire and motivate you to make more of yourself and do more
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Needless to say, there are some mentoring programs that are better than others so you need to do your homework before you choose the one you think suits you best. If you can familiarize yourself with the person you intend to become your mentor, either on a personal level or through the workplace you will know exactly what you can expect from him or her. Chat with other people who have been mentored using that program and ask whether or not they would recommend it. Will it be worth your time, money and the effort you have to put in? You will find that talking to people who have previously been mentored will be the best proof of performance you can get. A good mentoring program will give methodical training, cut down on the learning time and allow you to develop and expand.

This is what makes mentoring such a powerful tool enabling you to arrive at your personal potential and to do so quicker than you would on your own.

Prior to staring a mentoring program it is important that you are aware of what is expected of you, what you can expect and how you and your mentor will work together to achieve your goals.
By : Kevin Sinclair    Five stars rating
Submitted 2008-05-23 07:27:52

Author Resource

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business.

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