Talk to anyone who has had a successful mentor/mentee relationship and they will probably tell you it was one of the best learning experiences they ever had. Mentors can help move people to the next level of confidence and performance and have a life-long influence. But unfortunately great mentoring is all too rare in organizations these days as work pressures get heavier and the time available for non-essential tasks, such as mentoring, gets shorter.

Even if you are under pressure in your own job, try to provide mentoring to someone. It can be a very rewarding experience and you might learn something in the process too (reverse mentoring!). If you think you would benefit from mentoring but are not getting it – ask! People usually feel quite flattered when asked if they will give you some advice or direction, and you might succeed in forming a relationship that does your career some good!

If you can’t find someone at work to mentor you then look outside work – maybe a family member or church member. If you can’t find one there try on-line mentoring. Yes there are websites out there for that too. A pretty good one to take a look at is http://www.horsesmouth.co.uk – “a social network for informal mentoring, where everyone can give and gain. You can search for a mentor, be a mentor, or simply browse the inspirational profiles and stories on the site. It’s safe and it’s free”.

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