How becoming a mentor can enhance your leadership skills

We often hear about the benefits of finding mentors in our career. But becoming a mentor can often be just as momentous of an occasion as finding one to help you grow. As a mentor, you get to see a person progress in their career while learning how to better communicate. You get to explore fresh ideas and gain confidence at the same time. It’s a role you’ll appreciate no matter where you are in your career.

If you’ve never been a mentor, or if you only have a limited amount of experience with this type of leadership, it may be time to work toward growing this skill. Here are 4 reasons why mentorship can help you grow as a professional in your career.

We often talk about how mentorship is great for identifying the leaders of tomorrow. It’s also great for the person doing the mentoring because it can refine your leadership style. If you’ve already defined your leadership style, a one-on-one mentorship gives you opportunities to push your own boundaries and see what else might work for you. For example, if you tend to work toward specific goals within a pacesetter type of role, you can show your mentee how goal setting can help a person become a high achiever.

On the other hand, if you want to practice putting relationships first, you may find a different leadership style works best to motivate your mentee. Working to mentor a person tests your leadership skills in ways you may never get to experience working with a larger team. Use the time wisely to see what works best in that one-to-one setting.

Mentees can vary in age, education, and experiences. Both you and your mentee have different ways of seeing things because of what you’ve done in your lives. However, when you’re able to see things from someone else’s perspectives, it can increase your emotional intelligence and help you gain new insights.

Challenging your perspectives helps you learn to see things from different viewpoints, whether that means being more empathetic or starting to take a more critical view of a situation. Being able to think outside of your own experiences leads to more meaningful interactions with those around you. That’s a great muscle to flex as you grow as a leader.

One of the most compelling pieces of mentorship programs is how well it grows your social network. Through mentorship groups, you’ll meet a diverse group of motivated people who, like you, want to grow and challenge themselves in the process. Many of those people are looking to share knowledge, empower each other, and understand difficult situations to learn lessons that will benefit them their entire careers.

Your mentorship groups will connect you with people you may have never experienced on your own. It sets you up with more opportunities for collaborations, sponsorships, and other types of connection that can help you grow. As a mentor, you can also connect your mentees with other allies like you who are dedicated to helping them grow.

If you’re approached about being a mentor, you will quickly learn just how valuable you are to others within your world. Mentors are typically identified for specific values. They tend to be authentic, objective, willing to coach and teach, and they are highly respected for who they are both inside and outside of the workplace.

If you’re already serving as a mentor, you may already know how much you are valued. It’s humbling when you realize someone sees you in that role. If you aren’t there yet, but you’re on the path toward becoming a leader, mentorship shouldn’t be far behind. It will challenge you in ways you may not expect, and you’ll quickly recognize the importance it brings to your role.

Mentorship is hard work. But it’s always worth it. You’ll shape the future of business while pushing yourself in new ways. It’s a goal that’s always worth the work you’re going to put into it.

Jim Allen is a business leader and entrepreneur who has built one of the top-producing real estate groups in the Triangle. He is President of The Jim Allen Group, which is consistently named one of the top real estate teams in North Carolina and even North America.