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Women Share The Biggest Lessons That They Learned From Being A Mentor

We all know that having a mentor can be great for your career. But being a mentor can also have some surprising perks...

Having a mentor has long been hailed as one of the most important things that you can do to get ahead in your career. Powerhouse women from Kamala Harris to Jane Fonda have spoken out about how much their mentors shaped their success – but mentoring isn’t a one-way street. In fact, many mentors learn valuable lessons from their mentees whilst showing them the proverbial ropes. To celebrate great mentorship we asked women to share the most valuable thing that they learned from being a mentor. Their responses might inspire you to find a mentee of your own.

Talia Zamora , 43, is a Business Strategy Coach. After spending years working in business improvement, she decided to share her experience to help other women find success. Being a mentor enables me to meet people I wouldn’t normally connect with and understand the world through their eyes. I have developed stronger leadership skills and gained new perspectives and fresh ideas. However, the number one thing that I’ve learned from mentoring is my own strengths, such as how my calm but firm demeanour makes me unique to work with. It’s been amazing to support female business owners and help them succeed with confidence.

Claudia Colvin, 32, is the Founder and Director of mental health movement . She is based in Ghent, and began mentoring as a youth worker and as part of social mobility schemes. I’ve found that a conversation with a mentee often helps me to prioritise things for myself. Sometimes mentors give better advice to other people than they do to themselves. Giving advice out loud helps you to remember what matters, and act on it if you’re off-track in your own career.

Viviane Paxinos is the General Manager for UNiDAYS. Having been a mentor herself for a number of years, she is leading this year's UNiDAYS Student Woman Of The Year Award , powered by AllBright. Early in my career I didn’t thoroughly understand what mentorship was or how it worked. I was lucky that my mentor relationships formed organically, and as my career progressed I began to understand how much of an impact my mentors had on me, but also that I had an impact on them too. That was my biggest lesson - that mentorship is a two-way street. When I started mentoring, my instinct was to immediately offer a solution because I could so easily see a fix. As a mentor, I really focused on active listening - this is key as it promotes trust and respect, and you can help to contribute to resolving problems, but most importantly you can offer a different perspective in order for your mentee to come up with a solution. Being a mentor is so much more than feeling good about yourself. When I was part of the mentoring scheme at Discovery communications, I had the privilege to connect with a mentee that was just so smart and impressive. I learned a lot from him and enjoyed our conversation tremendously - it helped me develop stronger leadership skills and gain new perspectives. The advice and lessons taught were reminders to follow my own good advice, which we easily forget! Finally, as a mentor or a colleague, remember to pay it forward throughout your career. Take a new employee for coffee, help someone with a problem, or offer yourself as a mentor to a bright young star. There are so many ways that you can offer your support to others, you’re sure to find a few that resonate with you.

Berta Maso, 44, is a based in Switzerland. She started mentoring after having a great experience with an inspirational mentor of her own. I love seeing the energy shift when people that I mentor find their own voice and step into their own shoes. I’ve learned that everyone’s journey is different, and what’s right for me might not be right for them. You have to give people room to experiment, discover and embrace their own uniqueness.

Kiran Hothi, 29, and Sonam Kaur, 28 are Co-Founders of , a media company amplifying the voices of South Asian women. They are both passionate about social mobility, and focus on mentoring women from marginalised groups. We both found that mentoring was really important in setting us up to be leaders, and really helped when we came to found NotYourWife. There are so many aspects of being an effective mentor – communicating empathetically, being a good listener, being solution driven, and building trust and rapport. Learning these skills at an early stage as mentors has been hugely beneficial for us when setting up our own business.

Natalia Valentina, 46, is a living in Cornwall. She mentors at the Women’s Centre in Newquay supporting other women who have experienced abusive relationships and economic hardship. Having experienced domestic violence myself I’ve made it my life goal to stop allowing my past to define my future. Being a mentor for the Women’s Centre has shown me that you can use a negative and life-defining experience for something good. It’s allowed me to put those memories in a box, and use my experience to help others.

Ivana Poku, 36, is the author of . She helps women to feel empowered and happy after becoming parents. The biggest thing I learned from mentoring is how to stretch myself and respond differently to different people, even when they are struggling with the same issues. We all have our own model of the world, so a certain technique that helps 10 women might not help the 11th one. Learning this has taught me a lot about flexibility and about avoiding getting stuck.

Vhari Russell, 43, is a Managing Director for . She mentors both local school children and business owners. I’ve learned that the little things that you advise make a big difference. The small skills and tips that you have picked up along the way can be the most significant things that you can share with individuals. I’ve also realised that if someone else believes in you then you feel much more confident believing in yourself.

Cynthia Moore, 40, is a STEM Ambassador and volunteer mentor at The Girls Network, based in Portsmouth. Originally from the Netherlands, she now runs in the UK. The importance of listening and observing has been the most crucial skill that I’ve learned as a mentor. It’s much easier to listen without agenda or judgement as a mentor, and I’ve realised that means that the mentee feels heard and comfortable sharing more. It also means that I’m able to hear and observe more and use that to create insight and new ideas.

Rachida Benamar, 34, is the Founder of . Based in London, she began mentoring whilst at law school, and now mentors for The Diana Award charity. When I first started mentoring in my early twenties I was stunned at how much my mentees taught me. I think that you go into mentoring thinking that you are the one guiding the mentee, but you often find that your mentee can open your eyes on so many topics and introduce you to new perspectives that you would not have otherwise thought about. Mentoring has expanded my network significantly and connected me with people who care deeply about social injustice and share many of my core values.

Mentor Matching

We have launched Mentor Matching to make sure every woman succeeds in her career, faster. What's more, we've made the whole process of finding a match easy - simply tell us the key areas of expertise you want to learn, or improve on, and we'll match you up with your perfect mentor. Remember, this tool is available to AllBright Plus subscribers, so and join the mentorship movement with AllBright.

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