From mentee to mentor

One of the things that makes a great mentor is having first hand experience of being a mentee! Having a positive mentee journey and fully experiencing and appreciating the impact on your career, development and ways of thinking acts as a great foundation and motivation for bringing your supportive perspectives to the journeys of others.

The journey from mentee to mentor isn’t a complex one and we’re looking for mentees at all levels – not just from those in senior roles. Your outside perspective and ability to give a small amount of your time to work with your mentee is all that you need. WIBF will support you with training and getting started.

For more inspiration about the journey from mentee to mentor we’ve shared some thoughts from existing WIBF mentors….

“I have had mentors in the past. These have all been old line managers from previous companies with whom I had good rapport already. I’ve had some invaluable help over the years, and wish I’d got started sooner in helping others.”

Martin Fiddaman

“I still have two mentors today – each for different reasons. One helps me on the business development side and the other has been with me for about 18 months and has walked the walk with me as I left finance and started my own business. My mentors see more talent and ability within me than I see in myself. For somebody considering being a mentor my main advice is to  build trust, establish goals, take action and celebrate successes too. Making sure you can commit the time and energy to the mentee is important too.”

Sue Till

“Being a mentor is a joy. Not every mentee will want to follow your thought process, but it doesn’t matter. If you can be a good listener, be trusted, gently honest, be generous with insights and experience and tell stories to help, then I think you could be a perfect mentor.”

Amanda Rendle

If this has inspired you to become a mentor please get in touch and just a quick reminder that mentors are able to access the WIBF mentoring programme without becoming a member of WIBF.

All we ask is that you commit a minimum of 1 hour per month for 6 months. We will match you with a mentee who could benefit from your skills and experience. We will also provide a helpful guide to help shape those initial mentoring conversations. Please sign up here: https://www.wibf.org.uk/mentoring/mentor-sign-up/