photo: Steve Schapiro/Corbis
January is many things, the start of new beginnings, time to spend with family friends if you’re fortunate enough to extend your New Year holiday and of course it is also International Mentoring Month. More specifically, January 17th is International Mentoring Day, a time to reflect on those mentoring relationships that shaped you, and to #thankyourmentor.
January 17th is also the birthday of the late Muhammad Ali, a mentor to many – serves as a symbol for International Mentoring Day. Muhammad Ali famously lived by six core principles, confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect, and spirituality, all of which are directly relevant to mentoring.
Six Core Principles For Success
Mentoring builds increased confidence for both the mentor and the mentee. For the mentee, mentors help build self-belief, providing opportunities for growth and clarity. For mentors, having a mentee can help mentors consider their own journey and strengths critically, often bringing increased confidence with it.
Mentoring relationships help build conviction in our beliefs, understand and realise our passions, and give us the confidence to move forward. They help us meet new, like-minded people, who can support and encourage us, keeping us on track if we start to waver.
We learn dedication in our mentoring relationships, giving us an accountability partner to keep us on task, and setting an example for the hard work and commitment required to move forward.
Mentors teach us the importance of giving, reminding us to send the ladder back down to those behind us on their journey, and empowering us to reach out to those in front and around us. The beauty of a mentoring relationship is the people you meet along the way, setting the example and who are happy to give with no expectation of receiving in return.
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali
Mentoring relationships model and help us build a sense of respect, both within the relationship and for others. They provide a sense of understanding and empathy for other people’s journey and experiences, opening our eyes to diversity.
Mentoring gives us a sense of spirituality, fostering connectedness between individuals and communities and making us feel to be included in something greater than the sum of our parts.
#MentoringMonth
This International Mentoring Day, look to those that you can support and build up, or start a conversation with someone new. Give without expectations of receiving in return, or walk in someone else’s shoes. There is no better or more important time for us to connect our communities and move forward together.
Unsure where to start? The Mentorloop team is here to help.
