…Or so the saying goes but it’s true. As professionals we are never too… ‘old’ or knowledgeable that we don’t have room to discover something new about the work we do. Likewise, all that knowledge we have hopefully amassed over our own working life could have value to someone else.
I was recently asked to mentor someone looking to establish themselves in the marketing sector, and whilst I will make no claims to being ‘the” expert, without arrogance, I think there is something I can pass on.
This got me thinking, mentoring or being a mentor has real value in today’s corporate world and is all too often over-looked in terms of value. Not only does it allow us all to share our own experiences, tips, skills, and such, but it also allows us to learn continuously through the free exchange of knowledge.
The hard benefits are clear: mentoring increases the skills of others, it helps learning through relationship and experience, and it also helps promote our own specific industry as a genuine career path. It also makes you feel good, being able to help others navigate their way through your sector or them taking a nugget of experience and being able to do something equally productive with it.
Mentoring does not even have to be formal; perhaps we just engage more with those who we think can help us and even – yes ask a question of others, without fear or judgment about a topic we would like to know more about. Mentors too need mentoring and all the best keep on top of what others in their field are saying and practising and are not afraid to admit to continually learning from other eithers.
So, if you have knowledge why not share it – and equally – don’t be afraid to ask others in your sector for help and advice – avoiding the obvious commercial stuff, there’s always something to learn and something to teach.