Page 55 - SyI Quarterly - Q3 and Q4 Edition 2023

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Barriers for potential mentors oauth/7d63260f6eb0bb6d26c8/?live=true

A successful mentoring programme needs both mentors and mentees. The key barriers to a potential
mentor can include time, skills, experience, and a lack of confidence in their own ability.

• Time – as a potential mentor you will no doubt have many demands on your time and may be
concerned that you could be signing up to an open-ended commitment. It is therefore important that
at the start of a mentoring relationship you set out the time commitment you would be comfortable
giving.

• Skills – a successful mentor will have the following skills: active listening; building trust; encouraging;
instructing/developing capabilities; inspiring; an ability to identify goals and current reality, give
constructive feedback, manage risks, and open doors. Ultimately the mentor’s role is to listen to,
guide, and support their mentee. Skills that you will no doubt already have!

• Experience – as a potential mentor you may not yet be experienced in this field, but this is your
chance to gain the experience! The “qualification” for being a mentor, is that you have already walked
some, if not all, of the path that the mentee is looking to walk. Therefore, you will have a lot of wisdom,
knowledge and connections that will benefit the mentee.

• Lack of confidence – a key barrier to becoming a mentor can be a lack of self-confidence.
Regardless of your own areas for development, you will still have plenty of areas where you can
support, advise, and guide a mentee. We are all on a learning journey.

In exploring the potential barriers for potential mentors we should consider a famous quote from
Henry Ford: “Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young but becomes constantly more
valuable”.

Through mentoring the mentor will learn much about themselves – their own strengths and areas for
development; and they will learn from the mentee – reverse mentorship.

Often mentorship is considered hierarchical, but in truth, everyone needs mentorship. A Senior
Executive may understand business strategy but may be less likely to understand Instagram for
example. That is where mentorship can truly benefit both the mentor and mentee.

In addition, to reverse mentorship, there is a real benefit to everyone having a mentor, regardless
of how accomplished someone is. So, in celebration of National Mentoring Day, why not consider
areas where you may be able to develop and sign up for our mentoring programme to support your
development?

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