No matter where you are in your career, you don’t need to do it alone. Getting a mentor is definitely something that everybody should be doing. Mentorship is extremely important for your growth. Whether it is professional growth, career or even spiritual growth. Throughout my career and life, I have had a multitude of mentors. and these mentors have really impacted and improved specific areas of my life, be it my studies, career or finances. I can proudly attribute some of my successes to having a mentor.
As a mentee, I have also benefited
from the deep experience of people who have made a personal investment in me;
as a mentor, I have accelerated other people’s learning simply by investing some
time and insight, which has been incredibly gratifying. When you invest time
and energy in someone, you not only change the trajectory of his or her life
and career with your experience and wisdom, but your company or organization
can reap rewards in various forms.
When deciding to get yourself
a mentor, it is important to primarily build a relationship with them. Allow
them to get a sense of who you are, what you do and what it is that you want to
achieve. It is also important to let know what it is that you bring to the
table, because mentorship should be a two-way street. The mentor-mentee
relationship goes both ways. It should benefit both parties.
Sometimes a mentor can be
somebody you are learning from via books, interviews or even social media. I
have plenty of those. Women who I aspire to be like. These are women in law,
women in business, women founders etc. One such woman is Michelle Obama. I also
have a few male mentors who positively and successfully impact my life, however,
a bulk of my mentors are women because it is important to me that I am
surrounded by and learn from other women. Representation matters.
One of my mentors, somebody I have
a personal relationship with, is Keamogetswe Matsho - CEO of Aqua Air Africa and
founder of King Gina. She is one of my most cherished mentors, for several
reasons. She’s brilliant, strategic, knowledgeable about business and
passionate about women empowerment.
Another one is #womaninlaw, Sinako
Bomela, founder and MD of Sinako We Can. She is known for her leadership, building
confidence of the youth by making their aspirations achievable through her organization. She is also a
pioneer of women’s rights.
I am grateful for the advice
and guidance that I get from these women. I am constantly learning from them by
following and studying their works.
Look at where you are and
where you want to be, find somebody who has the knowledge and information that
you need in order to advance yourself. One way to get into contact with them is
by positioning yourself in a way that you get around that person and introduce
yourself to them. NB - Do Not Be a Stalker! Another way is to pop them an email
or even a DM. What do you have to lose?
Introduce yourself and be
clear about what it is that you want and what your expectations are. Show
him/her why you deserve their time. You will definitely find somebody to look
up to and learn from in your community, campus, the company you work for and
even on social media. Hopefully they will be willing to help you get to where
you want to be.
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