January is National Mentoring Month

What is mentoring? It has been described as a mutually beneficial partnership between two people with the goal of professional and personal development within the same networking organization.

Currently, most professional women are actively pursuing mentoring to increase their circle of contacts and knowledge within the various organizations that they have joined.

Mentorship partnerships are rewarding to both the mentor and the mentee on a professional as well as a personal level because it expands viewpoints and illuminates various committees with recommendations of where the mentee would best fit in.

Mentors serve as advisors and role models. They’ve “been there” and “done that” so they can impart knowledge and offer suggestions.

Mentoring is an credibly powerful tool. Here are five famous mentorship relationships that are fun to know about:

• Steve Jobs mentored Mark Zuckerberg
• Maya Angelou mentored Oprah Winfrey
• Father Michael van der Peet mentored Mother Teresa
• Christian Dior mentored Yves Saint-Laurent
• Warren Buffett mentored Bill Gates

 

According to Insala the benefits of implementing a mentoring program “will bring innovation to your association and provide new members with value that they actually want. They will have the opportunity to receive professional resources, acquire new skillsets and expand their network.” Members are not the only ones who will benefit from a mentoring program. The professional organization also gains benefits.

Many organizations consider a mentoring program as a necessary step in attracting new members because it helps to give these new members the connections that they are looking for.

Because of COVID, there has been a decrease in all organizational membership over the past two years. “Many organizations have adopted innovative programs, like mentoring, to improve member retention. By providing a mentoring program, you will effectively increase the number of members that renew with your organization each year.”

Allowing members to learn from one another bridges the gap between older and newer members by giving the new members the opportunity to gain knowledge from the long-time members.