The Disadvantages To Being A Mentor & How You Can Overcome Them
Here at Career Navig8r, we believe strongly in the power of mentoring to change lives both for Mentors and Mentees. Mentoring is not only an excellent way for Mentors to monetize their existing skills and experience, but it’s flexible and accessible, allowing anyone to become a Mentor so long as they’ve worked in a career role.
That being said, no job is entirely without its downsides. Today we’d like to examine the biggest mentoring disadvantages, how they could affect you and your career, and what you can do to mitigate them.
Examining the Downsides of Mentoring
If you’re thinking of becoming a Mentor then it’s crucial to have a really great understanding of what a Mentor does and doesn’t do.
As a Mentor, you’ll be both a teacher and a guide. Your most valuable asset, and the one your Mentees will be looking for, is your experience of the job role they’re looking to take on. As such, it’s important to bear in mind that your Mentee will probably be bringing a lot of passion with them, as well as their own idea of what they hope to get out of the job role.
Now, it has to be said that passion waxes and wanes and this is perfectly normal. Plenty of people start out a career with lots of passion for the subject and, by the time they retire, they’ve burned through that passion and are looking to move on to something else. Others come to a career largely because it’s a good set for their existing skills but find a passion for it along the way.
Wherever you fall on this spectrum, if you want to be a great Mentor, then being able to express that passion will go a long way. For those feeling burned out on their careers this can be challenging, but with the right mindset it’s certainly possible to work around.
It really helps to remember that passion can come from many different places, be it a love of sharing your knowledge with others or a sense of investment in your Mentees career journey.
As you begin your mentoring journey, look for the places where you can find passion in your work and inspire your Mentee towards bigger and better achievements.
Expectations VS Reality
Understanding Mentees – in particular, understanding their aims – is fundamental to helping them progress in their careers. To that end, it’s important that in your early conversations you establish some healthy expectations.
While plenty of Mentees will have taken the time to really dig into their research and gain a good understanding of the role they’re being mentored for, it’s not unusual for a Mentee to have inflated or unrealistic expectations about both the job role and the mentoring process. For many Mentors, one of the hardest parts of the mentoring process is sitting their Mentees down and giving them the plain and simple facts.
That being said, this is a problem that gets significantly easier over time. Not only will you likely develop a standard ‘spiel’ – a refined set of explanations that give a clear and concise impression of how the mentoring process will go – but you’ll also come to recognise these kinds of expectations early on and naturally start to develop tactful methods of setting your Mentees on the right course.
Overcoming Struggles in Your Role As A Mentor
The biggest downside of all to being a Mentor is also, in many respects, the biggest strength: the buck stops with you.
What does that mean? It means that while your aim is ultimately to get the Mentee where they want to be, how that happens depends a lot on your ability to make the right calls. There will be times when you might doubt your judgments. You may even feel uncertain about some of the advice you give and once in a while you might discover you’ve just made a mistake.
On the other hand, for all the responsibility you’re taking on, there’s also a tremendous amount of freedom. It might take you a little time to develop the real confidence to overcome some of these early struggles, but once you get going as a Mentor, you’ll be able to bring all of your skills, and all of your talents to bear.
When all’s said and done, being a Mentor is about being the role model your Mentee can follow. Although it may feel nerve-wracking to have to make these kinds of decisions, there’s nobody better suited to the role than you.
If you’re ready to help someone on their career journey by showing them how it’s done, then sign up today with CareerNavig8r.com.