The success of a company is not only measured by the total amount of sales each month or acquiring new clients every week. Leadership also plays a role here. And one way to strengthen leadership is through mentoring others.
Below are ways mentoring others is beneficial for you and your company. If you feel it’s better to leave some aspects of mentoring at the hands of a trained , experienced leadership coach, Kurt Uhlir’s servant leadership article then by all means do it. What’s important is that your employees get to hone their leadership skills, which is always great for the company.
1. It cultivates strong professional relationships.
Even if you’re holding an executive role, you still need to establish a good working relationship with other employees. By mentoring, you get to collaborate with people you may not regularly work with. This also allows mentees to receive support and encouragement from their superior, which is something they might be needing but too intimidated to ask.
2. It shapes better leaders.
Mentoring can train the leadership skills of both the mentor and the mentee. Training employees on how to do their jobs well is good. But you also have to teach them how to become better managers and leaders in the future. And by mentoring, this can be achieved.
Meanwhile, mentoring also benefits mentors in that they become more effective leaders. They develop their leadership coaching skills as they provide feedback to mentees. It also allows them to put themselves in the shoes of other employees, enabling them to understand where these people are coming from, which in turn, allows them to craft better employee policies.
3. It makes leaders feel more fulfilled.
Isn’t it rewarding when you make an impact in the life of another person? That’s what mentoring does. When you mentor others, you’re essentially making them better assets of the company. And when you see them succeed and achieve their goals, you get a deep sense of fulfilment. It’s even more fulfilling when you see them equipped enough to mentor others themselves.
4. It allows for continuous learning.
Learning never stops, and you should know that by heart as a leader. Mentoring is a learning opportunity for both parties. When you mentor someone, you’re imparting knowledge and skills to that person. You also help them develop their soft skills, allowing them to become future leaders.
5. It allows leaders to become more self-aware.
Awareness is important in a corporate setting. It helps you understand your weaknesses, thereby giving you the opportunity to act on them. When you know your strengths, on the other hand, you’ll know how to use them to your advantage and contribute to the company.
When you mentor someone, you develop not only their self-awareness but your own, too. Self-awareness fosters camaraderie in the workplace, enables employees to improve and become more productive and motivated and be an asset to the company.
Mentoring is an important aspect of any leadership role. It allows you to develop your coaching skills, gain insights from others, keep on learning and develop future leaders in your industry.
