Career Mentoring
Getting a mentor is one of the best ways that you can become successful in the career of your choosing. A mentor is someone who has already achieved success in the career of your choice, and whom you admire. You can allow the relationship to grow naturally, or you can ask someone to become your mentor.
Mentoring is hardly a new concept. Since the beginning of time, there have been those who admired others and wished to be "like" them. Ask any famous person who they admire and chances are that they will choose someone in their field. Actress Meryl Streep has often said that she admired Bette Davis more than any other actress. She is far from alone.
Actress Meryl Streep is a bit different than other actresses who admired Bette Davis. Streep was actually fortunate enough to have contact with Davis prior to Davis' death. As a matter of fact, she wrote Streep a letter, encouraging her in her acting. In a way, Davis was a mentor to Streep.
You do not have to be famous to be a mentor or find a mentor. Think of something that you really like to do. A long term goal. Once you have this in your head, find someone who has already achieved this goal and try to emulate them, while still remaining true to your own sense of self.
A good mentor does not demand that you copy them. They simply show you the way towards achieving your goals. As you get closer to your goals, your mentor can be there to guide you.
The mentor is always the superior in the relationship. At the beginning. There are some people who surpass their mentor after they achieve their goals. Their mentors should be proud of this awesome success, especially if the person becomes influential. Because, in a way, the mentor had a big role in the success of this individual.
How does someone pay a mentor? By mentoring someone else. Mentoring is an altruistic journey. The mentor is not paid in money but by doing something good for another individual. The mentor should hope, in return, that the person who he or she mentored will do the same for another person in the future.
While some people formally ask someone to be their mentor, others just assume the relationship. Either way, the mentor is usually flattered at the idea that someone thinks enough of them to want to emulate them and is more than willing to help. In a way, the flattery can be a boost to the confidence of the mentor, rewarding them in a manner.
In return, the mentored individual should do what they can to be kind to their mentor. It does not hurt to acknowledge their help and to remember their birthday. As a show of appreciation, you can take them out to lunch or dinner. Over a period of time, the mentor and mentored relationship can be something that develops into a friendship.
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