Training, workshops and professional development may keep your technical skills honed, but having a mentor can unlock so many other benefits — helping you to develop soft skills, navigate tricky career decisions and grow your network, plus tap into industry-specific knowledge and experience. 

Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates are all vocal about their influential mentoring relationships (having been privy to the wisdom of Steve Jobs, Maya Angelou and Warren Buffett respectively), and studies show mentoring can increase the likelihood of promotions, higher pay and better career opportunities.

There can be significant benefits for mentors, too. In the process of sharing their expertise, senior professionals can cultivate emotional intelligence and other interpersonal skills, stay up to date on industry trends and expand their network — potentially even finding new talent.

In a Robert Half Management Resources survey, one in four mentors said improving their leadership skills was the main benefit of the experience, while almost one-third cited the internal satisfaction of helping others.

The personal reward that comes from supporting someone to navigate and ultimately accelerate their career cannot be overstated, says Dr Jodie Lowinger, a clinical psychologist, executive coach and author of The Mind Strength Method. 

“Acts of kindness towards others can positively change your brain by boosting levels of serotonin and dopamine to make you feel good at a neurological level,” she explains. “It’s one of the superpower things we can do to boost our mental health and wellbeing — plus, it’s such a lovely thing to have in your goals, to support and empower others in their success.”

Getting started

Aspiring mentors can tap into programs run by professional and business associations, university groups or community and philanthropic organisations, but one of the best ways to get involved with mentoring is to join a program run by your employer, says Natalie Hingco Perez, manager, Internal Audit at IAG and winner of ANZIIF’s 2023 Donna Walker Award for Inspiring Leadership. 

Having been both a mentee and mentor — and having developed the SheLeadsTech Melbourne mentoring program in collaboration with EY Melbourne — Perez believes the most crucial aspect of an effective mentoring relationship is the pairing. To get this right, she says mentors must be able to identify their value.

“You need to determine the type of assistance and advice you can provide,” she says. “Mentees come to you because they have a need. You don’t have to be perfect; you just need to have a strong skill to offer.”

In addition to having an asset worth sharing, Perez says mentors must be able to practise active listening and empathy to build trust and ultimately give their mentee permission to be vulnerable.

“A mentor should become a sounding board for their mentee,” she says. “That means no judgement in regard to what the mentee has said and respecting the privacy they’ve entrusted to you.”

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