A Good Mentor Is Hard to Find ^Featured

There can be many ways to contribute positively to your professional or personal community—volunteering, donations, community organizing, and event planning—and with social media usage at an all-time high, these activities are easier than ever. But what ever happened to mentoring? It seems lately people are expected to be self-starters, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps no matter how challenging their circumstances are, and finding success if they just work hard enough. But life isn’t that easy, and many people issuing that outdated advice are in extreme places of financial, racial, and class privilege. They don’t recognize the challenges faced by people outside of their own positions of social leverage, and therefore don’t think about the numerous pitfalls in the road for up and comers.

A true mentor is someone who can show you the ropes, help you make connections, and support you as you forge a career path. Not only is this relationship valuable for networking, but many lessons taught by mentors aren’t found in classrooms (if you’re in a position to even be able to attend school.) Mentors use their own experiences to educate others, making an impactful difference in their community. If it wasn’t for outstanding mentoring relationships, many talented and intelligent people wouldn’t be where they are today. These kinds of relationships are especially important for people of color, women, people of restricted mobility, and people from low income brackets—without someone to guide them, many of these under privileged people could be overlooked. But how can you be a good mentor? And how do you find someone who will benefit from your mistakes, successes, and life lessons? 

Put yourself out there

Let your community know you’re available to help. Contact local high schools, junior colleges, churches, and retailers of a comparable industry to yours and ask if they need anyone to provide volunteer career counseling. Use social media to your advantage and send Tweets, Facebook statuses, and Snapchats letting your network know how you can help. For example, if you are a successful freelance writer, offer to do portfolio review for aspiring writers. Find conventions, meetups, or Facebook groups and establish yourself as a resource. The easier access up and coming professionals have to you, the better you’ll be able to help. 

Inventory what you can offer

Before you make the time commitment to mentoring, plan ahead for what you’ll be reasonably able to provide. Not every mentoring relationship has to involve daily dialogue—some people just need a voice of advocacy and support, some people need a more experience professional to review their work, and some people simply need a resource for questions. Be clear about how much time you can devote, and agree to the terms of mentoring. Even if it’s two hours a week you spend on Skype or sharing insights from your work week, it’s going to be worth it. 

Build lasting relationships

The people you mentor won’t always be green, and someday they could be a valuable asset in your industry. If they have the right skills and abilities, consider elevating your mentoring to networking and collaboration, even if it’s on a project basis. Today’s learners will be tomorrow’s talent, and if you’ve maintained fantastic professional relationships, you will become a resource for the future of your profession. Be sure to pass qualified candidates along to your company’s HR department or get them into the hands of people you know—their talents will reflect positively on you, after all!

Be candid

Don’t sugarcoat the truths of your professional world, make sure that you’re honest and forthcoming about what people can expect getting into your industry. Think about the lessons you wish you would’ve learned in your first year and pass those learnings along. There is no shame in sharing your mistakes—it’s important to normalize professional growth and minimize the culture of risk aversion. Without risks, we might never find greatness, and the zeal of enthusiasm from the next generation should be encouraged, preserved, and respected. Don’t allow your jaded perspective of the industry to cloud your point of view, but also be clear about the reality of your career. Invite those you’re mentoring to observe the highlights and low lights of your world, and ask for their feedback on how they will lead through challenging situations.

Be a learner

Although mentoring is primarily about imparting gained knowledge and insight, don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn something new. Everyone has a valuable, unique perspective and the voice of your mentee should shape you as well. Leverage their skills and challenge yourself to take something new away from each conversation—are they fantastic at social media? A whiz in PhotoShop? Have an impeccable sense of style? Create opportunities for them to teach you about their passions, and cultivate a sense of giving leadership in them. Hopefully someday they can pay it forward and be the incredible mentor you’ve been to them.