ABOUT MENTORSHIP

Mentorship is often confused with coaching. Coaching is directed at perfecting the day today on the job processes while mentoring assists and offers direction to the mentee to develop the skills they need to be successful.

Mentors offer insights that aren’t taught at business schools. They offer personal insights — such as how they achieved their success or overcame obstacles — but they don’t provide you with a step-by-step plan.

A benefit of engaging a business mentor is that through their years of experience, they’ve been there and done that. By having a business mentor who shares their knowledge and advice, you’ll be able to learn from not only their past successes but also their mistakes. They are able to relate to the problems that you’re facing, while working with you to create effective solutions.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Mentors are experts in their field, bringing decades of niche, industry knowledge to their mentees.

Mentors are trying to help their mentees become better business people by motivating them through providing insight and resources. Business mentors are prepared to share their lifetime of expertise with their mentees and very often have faced similar challenges in their career journeys which makes them empathetic and reliable resources.

AUDIENCE

Business mentors are a must-have in any entrepreneur’s toolbox, from the day-one business owner to the established CEO or board member.

MENTOR CONTENT:

Mentoring will:

• Help the new board member to fully understand the entities’ strategic priorities and direction, and how best to contribute
• Facilitate the new board member’s acclimatisation by learning about board culture, board meetings format, board structure and how things get done at board/committee level, and how best to contribute to board discussions.
• Provide an overview of the board members, board roles and responsibilities, and expectations for board member meeting preparation and attendance.
• Facilitate board member engagement and contribution and a successful first-year experience.

MENTORSHIP INCLUDES:

1. Grounded advice

The advantage of building a mentorship relationship is the teaching you’ll receive. Far from the broad advice provided by online content or by a kindly family member, mentors ground their advice in real-life experiences. The advice comes from the mentor’s own knowledge and experience, which is extremely valuable.

2. A business mentor is a sounding board

One of the key responsibilities of a business mentor is being there to listen. A great mentor is there to challenge you and encourage you to come up with solutions to problems you face. By listening to their thoughts, you’ll be able to think of new ideas while developing new solutions, at a much faster rate than by yourself.

3. Opens networking opportunities

Networking is essential to any business person, no matter the size of their entity or industry sector. A business mentor usually has a wide network of connections, which may allow you the opportunity to network with individuals you previously wouldn’t have had access to.

4. They challenge you

A business mentor is there to challenge you on your journey, giving you that boost needed to extend yourself both personally and professionally. Mentors challenge you to develop new skills, make you feel better motivated and ensure you are on the right path.

REQUIREMENTS:

This type of mentoring relationship can take place remotely or through face-to-face meetings, whichever is most convenient for both parties involved.