Our youthful years are life’s most challenging phase. Decisions made can affect us for the rest of our lives. During this phase, rapid personal growth and development is important for making the right decisions and at the right time. Failure to get this right can result in negative consequences, such as lack of motivation, wrong career decisions, financial challenges and more. Mentorship is a crucial catalyst for growth as it is a great way to get support in navigating important decisions. If you ask anyone about their success, you will likely hear about an influential mentor.

How can I find the “right” mentor for me?

Finding the “right” mentor for you means getting a tried and tested method for achieving your goal from someone who has walked a similar path. This will save months, if not years, of potentially wasted time working it out yourself through trial and error. Here are my top three tips on finding the “right mentor”.

1. Find your match in skills and experience

It is important that the mentor you seek has the relevant skills set in order for the advice given to be useful. Also, it is sometimes better to choose someone who is just a couple of levels above you as they are likely to remember more on the challenges you face and how they overcame it. For example a senior associate at a law firm is likely to remember less on how to submit a successful graduate job application than a trainee solicitor at the firm.

2. Be proactive

Being proactive is key! A mentor can come from the most unlikely situations. Attend as many events as you can and network with the speakers and organisers. Ensure you are asking questions and sending follow up emails. What starts as a simple conversation at the end of an event could lead to a long term mentoring relationship.

3. Find a mentor that makes you step outside your comfort zone

Don’t be afraid to have a mentor that thinks differently to you. New perspectives breeds new ideas and growth. Also you don’t want a clone of yourself or a best friend as a mentor as they are less likely to push you beyond your comfort zone. Taking time to ensure compatibility in the mentoring relationship is also important.

How can I make the most of a mentoring relationship?

Once you have found the right mentor, the next step is ensuring you are getting the most value from the mentorship. Here are my top three tips on doing so.

1. Invest your energy

What you put in is what you get out! Ensure you are making the effort to contact your mentor, set up as regular meetings as possible and attend the scheduled meetings. Cancellations are only acceptable in emergency situations, especially as mentors often give up their time for free to invest in your growth. The more committed you are, the more the mentor will likely give to support you.

2. Set meaningful targets

It is sometimes easy to feel so overwhelmed by the main goal that you lose sight of the path to it. With the support of your mentor, set weekly or monthly targets and discuss exactly how to achieve these mini- goals. This also makes it easier for both you and your mentor to see how best to get the most value from each meeting, based on the set targets. 

3. Ask the right questions

A mentoring relationship is only valuable when you know exactly what you want out of it. Asking the right questions is a key way of doing so. For example, make sure you think about what challenges you want resolved before the start of each meeting.

By Rebecca Daramola – Mentee at Mentornect