“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey
Remember one of those situations when you had to take a hard decision, even though you felt like you didn’t have the required experience. Was there anyone by your side to support you and help you solve the problem? If not, just imagine how much easier it could be if you had a chance to discuss everything with a person worthy of trust and respect…
It is hard to imagine anything more indispensable than a person who could offer you support in the hour of need and tell you not to give up. However, we could be in an even greater need of someone who could give us a sage advice and share the experience we require in pursuit of our goals before we actually face the hour of dire need. Asperities can be avoided if a proper approach is used at the very outset.
A first-time entrepreneur is generally unable to define which knowledge he lacks exactly. Reid Hoffmann, the co-founder of LinkedIn, once said: “Founding a startup is like throwing yourself off a cliff and trying to assemble an airplane on your way down.” A mentor is a person who already assembled such planes and is now ready to help a newcomer do the same.
Mentorship is a great asset for anyone to gain an upper hand, regardless of your current career progress stage. This is especially relevant for women in managing positions willing to succeed in male dominant environment.
WOMEN NEED MENTORS TO REALISE THEIR STRENGTH
It is not a secret that women think different from men. Even though we do have all the skills and adequate qualification to succeed in a chosen career, we often feel unconfident about our abilities. As stated by Vittoria Adhami, a professional life coach, in her interview, “Men feel positive about being able to do the job until they are told they can’t. Women start with thinking they cannot do it, until they are told they are doing a good job.”
We tend to be underconfident on our way to success and leadership. However, experience has proven that a good mentor can help us learn how to overcome the difficulties that affect our success and progress towards the ultimate dream.
Mentorship is definitely a major advantage, considering that a mentor does not actually tell you what to do, but rather enables you to realise that and come to the required conclusion on your own. A good mentor is not going to describe your suggested course of action step by step; instead, a mentor inspires you to find the right answers yourself, helping you build character and develop moral strength while boosting your confidence.
HOW TO FIND A MENTOR?
Where?
As part of our commitment to supporting and developing women in business, Forward Ladies has launched the #PayItForward mentoring programme at our monthly Power Business Breakfast Clubs.
How does #PayItForward work?
This exciting new Forward Ladies members’ resource sees winners from our regional and national Women in Business Awards reaching out to women attending our monthly regional Power Business Breakfast Club networks and providing a 10-15 minute presentation on their personal business journey followed by a “speed mentoring” session, in which they will provide focused one-to-one mentoring to Premium Members who have pre-booked an appointment with them.
Benefits
Both our award winners and the women attending our monthly networking sessions are drawn from a diverse business background, ranging from start-ups to large SMEs. Whilst the mentoring experience can help mentees in a wide variety of ways, here are just some of the key benefits:
- Discuss particular business issues and clarify the best way forward;
- Get assistance in the process of prioritising business issues;
- A mentor can bring a fresh perspective to an entrenched work/business related issues;
- A great business mentor can help you to value your business strengths, whilst recognising areas in which you could improve your business performance;
- Get introduced to new business contacts and be provided with credibility when you are making new, important business connections;
To get started…
The #PayItForward Programme is exclusively for our Premium Members only and to get started just go to www.forwardladies.com/membership/ and sign up for our Premium Membership package.
Apart from an exclusive access to #PayItForward Programme you will also get:
- Free monthly Power Business Breakfast Clubs
- Discounts on all events
- Access to exclusive premium members virtual networking platform
- Members only content on website
- Monthly LIVE Webinar – recorded and accessible in the member only area
Did you enjoy this article? Here is what you can do!
- Sign up to become a FREE Member here.
- Please let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
- Share it with your network – go on, spread the love.
Do you have trouble planning for the future because you’re so bogged down by the day-to-day? Well, you’re not alone. And we have a great solution. Join us on 23rd May to get the essentials you need to start or grow your business in just one day! BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE