Why Mentors Matter

In any profession, the opportunity to grow can occur. The growth occurs more rapidly when we are connected to others, share ideas and learn with and from each other. Leadership best occurs in a community of people where there is a shared interest.

 If you think about leaders in education, all of us at one point were in our first year. It was challenging, demanding at times and probably lonely. If you are fortunate enough to have a mentor to share frustrations, seek wisdom/guidance then there is a greater fulfillment as you recognize you are not alone. In fact, having a mentor allows you to gain a sense of passion and togetherness that allows for continued growth. Likewise, if you are a leader in your role for several years with documented success, then you have a chance to help mentor other young leaders. This gives you the greatest gift as a leader – the opportunity to develop others.  This blog post shares the importance of why Mentors matter.

When you have others that you work closely with and together develop your leadership capacity, then you are creating a trusting team.  As John Maxwell  shares in his podcasts in reference to leadership “you are the average of the 5 people you spend your time with”.  As a leader, it is vital that you spend your time with those individuals that support you, have your best interest in mind, help you to grow and also expect you to support them.  You must find and surround yourself with other leaders so you can be your best version of yourself over time and strive for excellence.

How to be an effective mentor

• Have a Mindset of positivity, leading with vulnerability and continually seeking to improve.
• Give others who aspire to grow your time, effort and attention to their needs. 
• Use Reflection as a mechanism to seek feedback from others and thoughtfully examine if their work is producing desired results.  Share this reflection with others.
• Model passion for making a difference through helping others, lead by action more than words and “bring it” every day.
• Connect with others as you know the only way to truly help someone grow is to build trust and develop strong relationships.
• Share ideas and opportunities with others so you take a vested interest in their growth.
• Be Humble to recognize you don’t know it all so you can remain Hungry to learn and grow.
• Lead with Character so you listen to others, model integrity in decision making.

Why you need to also find mentors

• This allows you to share your vulnerability by admitting areas where you are challenged or struggling with. Seek advice on how failure has shaped them and apply that to your experiences.
• Learn what they did as a leader that helped propel their growth and influence that you should consider?
• Discover what is their passion or where they spent their time, effort learning so you are aware of different opportunities? It may not be applicable to your journey but it may create some new ideas.
• Share your desire to grow and ask them who did they learn from or connect with that you may consider learning from?
• How do they add value to others so you better understand how to support others?

Educators must remember that creating positive change requires that we must be intentional with our efforts – we must focus on continually growing and that includes helping others. In order to grow, we must connect with other leaders and learn from them and apply to our roles. Likewise, true leadership is influential so we must also find young leaders and provide opportunities to help guide and coach them in their journey.  It is never too late to change or adapt to create something better. We owe that to our students and staff that we serve. I encourage you to reflect and better understand “Why Mentors Matter” as a leader and how we each have opportunities to strive to get better and that includes learning from others but also supporting others.  Comment below or reach out to me at leadlearnerperspectives@gmail.com

Learn

Engage

Adapt

Delegate

Empower

Reflect

Serve

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