Comment votre profession utilise-t-elle le mentorat et le coaching?

Building relationships with mentors and coaches has helped me to grow both as a speaker and therapist. My mentors showed me the ropes behind the scenes in building a successful practice, and they developed my skill set so that I’d become top of mind for my specialty. My speaker coach helps me to refine the delivery of talks, including changing my cadence and tone. I’ve learned so much from her extensive experience, and she’s a great sounding board for ideas.

I’ve had mentors with unreasonable expectations and a lack of empathy in their approach, and this impacted our relationship. Mentors have to communicate clearly and directly about what they want to see from their mentees. Unsaid expectations breed resentment, and destroy rapport. Being able to connect compassionately opens the door for meaningful dialogue. When mentors aren’t empathetic, mentees don’t feel safe expressing ideas or concerns. This also leads to resentment because of having to walk on eggshells.

Here are five key factors to consider when selecting your mentor: Honesty: Your mentor should provide constructive feedback without sugarcoating or degrading your strengths and weaknesses. Pure intentions: Your mentor should expect nothing unjust in return for their guidance. Availability: Your mentor should make time for you and prioritize your growth. Expertise: Your mentor should possess extensive experience in their field. Character: Your mentor should be someone you genuinely admire and strive to emulate.

With technological advancements, some leaders may have never even met their mentors face-to-face. And sometimes, they don't even realize that they have a mentor, but they do. While this form of mentorship may not be the most productive, many leaders emulate the successful figures that they see on TV or read about online. They adopt their leadership styles and draw inspiration from their situations and strategies, assimilating their mentor's distant actions and behaviors into their own practical experiences. Furthermore, leaders consciously and subconsciously absorb the knowledge and behaviors of their supervisors on a daily basis, fostering an informal yet impactful mentor-apprentice relationship.

Mentors need to be prepared to learn from their mentees. Each mentee has different needs, and you shouldn’t employ a one-size-fits-all approach. Be sure to learn how to ask the right questions so that you understand what they need to succeed, and adapt your style to best reach your mentee. Be humble and don’t think you know everything. When you model openness and humility, your mentees will learn how to show up in this way.

What I love about Salesforce is that they have different options for people to choose from for mentor. They offer both 1:1 and group mentoring. You can choose to be a mentee or a mentor or maybe both. For group mentoring you can be sole mentor or have a co-mentor. There are an enormous amount of other options for people to find and become mentors. Fantastic way to give back into the community.

Mentoring can be more holistic and incorporate some personal, professional, and social aspects of our lives. It’s sharing experiences and focusing on what the needs are for you at that time and the direction of where you are going. Coaching can focus on specific skills or scenarios or even obstacles to get past so that as more and more come your way, you are better prepared to manage them. Both play big roles in our personal development and health, and I encourage everyone to be a mentor, find a mentor, and if possible, engage a coach in some way to keep your awareness and development going in the best direction. Good luck out there!