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How to pick a good mentor to help you in your career growth

Career Tips

We all at a particular point in our lives need someone to hold our hand and lead us in the sane direction. As a young career woman, I tend to believe that there must have been a driving force that led one where they are in their lives. Most of us are where we are because someone took the risk , believed in us and gave us a chance to try something, unsure of whether we were going to disappoint them or not.

In this world, it is hard to figure things on your own. Being a man eat man society, everyone needs a mentor to hold their hands and lead them on the safest route possible. But again, how do you pick the best mentor? Here are top qualities of a good mentor:

Pushes you out of your comfort zone:  Sometimes we get comfortable with just what is offered to us so long as it is working for us at that moment. That is the average mentality and attitude. A good mentor will push your out of your comfort zone and will teach you to demand what you are worth or pushes you to do something you never thought you could do.

Sets and meets personal/professional goals: We all desire to achieve something at some point in our lives. A good mentor should be able to lead by example. If he/she makes and meets goals, then that is someone you can look up to.

Bluntly honest: a good mentor is not supposed to sugarcoat truths. They don’t always tell you what you want to hear, they will at some point criticize you and your character and bluntly tell you if you are headed for doom. A good mentor in other words, should be straightforward even in matters you probably don’t want to hear.

Shares milestones and setbacks with you: A good mentor should be able to comfortably share with you the sweetness and bitterness of success in equal measure. This in turn helps you brace yourself for whatever may come your way in search to quench the success thirst.

They are different from you: It is all fun and laughter if you have a mentor whom you have everything in common till you realize they are not adding much value into your career. I mean, you do the same things so it basically is like you are seeing through the same lens. For you to grow, you need someone who doesn’t always see things from your point of view but rather from a different point all the same.

Provides guidance: A mentor should be able to provide guidance and give constructive feedback to their mentee. This in turn helps the mentee to know and appreciate their strengths and weaknesses. 

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