Mentors – Get One. Be One.

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.