Power of mentoring

January is celebrated as National Mentoring month. I am writing this blog to remind myself the power of mentoring in my life. I am a big believer of mentoring programs. If you are a working professionals, chances are your company has an official mentoring program, many corporations do. But if your company does not have one, do not be discouraged. You can find one. For those of you who are new to this concept, mentoring is a structured and trusting relationship between two people called mentor and mentee, where mentor offers guide, support and encouragement to develop character and competence of a mentee.
If your job is related to innovation and change, mentoring plays a greater role in succeeding at workplace. I recognized the value of mentoring early in my career and based on my experience, here are 3 reasons, you must have a mentor:
1. You need to get out of your comfort zone 
We learn and grow and become comfortable with the daily routine and slowly develop our own comfort zone.  We get stuck at same place and its not easy to come out. But in order to improve personal life or climb the corporate ladder, we need to break our comfort zone and come out. You will need support and guidance of a mentor to be able to come out of comfort zone and excel in the new job.

2. You need to re-energize yourself periodically

Mentoring relationship is a trusted one and when you share your emotions out of personal or professional events, you get fresh ideas and opinions which will re-energize you to do things differently.

3. You need different perspective

You need different perspective on your thoughts and ideas to succeed. A good mentor always facilitate informations(coaching and advice) so that mentee can make informed decision.

So the big question is how do you find a mentor? Here are few tips:

• If you are a working professional, look for someone accomplished outside your department or organization. Tell him your objective and request, if he can be your mentor.
• Join professional network group like Linkedin and expand your network, you will find an ideal mentor very soon.
• You can google and find some mentoring network organizations such as IMNO
• Ask your manager or supervisor if he can help you find a mentor.
• When you find one, make sure you meet/talk regularly

Happy mentoring !!