Who Can Be Your Mentor?

A strong mentoring relationship gives new workers somebody that would share his/her expertise/knowledge in the concerned area of study. Strong relationships must be a two-way street, and thus, if you want your relationship with your teacher to be outstanding, you need to be a good and respectful pupil. If you are still in the process of searching for a mentor, these are the qualities to look for (just to mention a few).

Good traits of a mentor

Quality #1: He/she must be ready to share his expertise and skills. A topnotch mentor must remember the hardships of starting out, even if his/her newbie days were 3 decades ago, and as such, he understands that proper mentoring would take a lot of commitment and time.

Quality #2: He/she must have a deep interest in the relationship. Needless to say, if the mentor is being paid, and he/she only cares about the money that the relationship gives, it would be a superficial learning process. If such is the case, the said coach could not be keen on discovering on whether his/her pupil is learning or not -- for as long as he/she is earning. Also, the mentor must have strong communication skills, but he/she must also be capable of making the student feel gratified with the preferred line of work.

Quality #3: He/she must be capable of giving guidance and also constructive criticism -- if the mentor is able to make the pupil admit his mistakes, to recognize why it was a mistake, and to make him intent on learning the lesson. If the mentor can do these while at the same time not giving offense to the pupil, then he/she is an excellent mentor.

Quality #4: He/she should be respected by his/her colleagues. If your mentor is being badmouthed by a single individual in the profession, then chances are, that person just hates or dislikes the mentor due to whatever reasons. However, if almost all colleagues are saying something undesirable regarding your mentor, then that is another story right there. Better check out why that particular mentor has a "dark" reputation before getting him/her as your counsellor.