Karen Russell is a Harvard-trained lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine. She is the Firm-Wide Manager of Diversity Initiatives. Karen also works as an Inclusion consultant to help clients develop “best practice” proactive strategies for managing inclusion, diversity and multi-cultural issues.
Here she talks about why modern mentoring is an important initiative in organisations to support your most valuable asset – your people!
Karen covers:
- What is mentoring?
- Why would you invest in other people?
- The power of Reverse Mentoring
- Barriers to mentoring
- Disappointment in mentoring
- How Maya Angelou inspired her
- Group mentoring
The Benefits of Modern Mentoring: How to Make the Most of Your Mentoring Relationship
In today’s world, modern mentoring is becoming increasingly important as individuals of all ages seek guidance, motivation, and advice from older generations. From students striving to reach their next level of success to professionals seeking a career mentor, modern mentoring has become a crucial component of personal growth. Developing and maintaining a successful mentoring relationship not only gives guidance and insight but also offers invaluable advice, support, and accountability. Read on to learn more about the benefits of modern mentoring and how to make the most of your own mentoring relationship.
What is Modern Mentoring?
Modern mentoring is an approach to mentoring that acknowledges the changing nature of work and the workforce. It is a more dynamic and flexible way of mentoring that takes into account the changing needs and expectations of the current generation of workers.
Modern mentoring can take various forms, from having an older family member or friend as a mentor, to seeking out a professional or career mentor, or even having someone be a mentor virtually.
Traditionally, mentoring has been seen as a one-way relationship, with the mentor passing on knowledge and advice to the mentee. However, modern mentoring emphasises a more collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship between the mentor and mentee – an approach that recognises both parties have something to learn from each other and that the mentor can benefit from the relationship as much as the mentee.
Modern mentoring also takes advantage of technology and digital tools, such as Mentorloop, to connect mentors and mentees who may be in different locations or working remotely. This allows for more frequent and flexible communication between the mentor and mentee, asynchronous mentoring, as well as access to a wider pool of potential mentors.
It’s also focused on creating a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace by providing opportunities for mentorship to a broader range of individuals, including those who may not have had access to traditional mentoring programs in the past.
Challenges of Modern Mentoring
Just like any other relationship, modern mentoring relationships have their own set of individual challenges. It’s important to be aware of the potential issues that can arise during a mentoring relationship such as different levels of communication styles, different motivations between parties, and unrealistic expectations. When managing a mentoring program with spreadsheets and email, this can be near impossible to avoid unless you know each participant very well. Mentoring platforms however, ensure you have a structured way to offer quality mentoring at scale, where satisfaction is guaranteed by almost all participants.
