Hi Korea Investors Welcome to another career secret the power of a career mentor I promise

you that When you finish this video you will understand why a mentor is critical for your career

And you get tips to find the right mentor and build with him a successful relationship

So stay tuned and let's get in it What is mentoring And what is a

mentor You are correct If you think this is old stuff But if you think this is nothing

for you believe me you're mistaken And let me explain why I think so Mentoring has

a long history The world mentor comes from Greek mythology when Ulysses entrusted his son's

education to his old friend mentor dating back at least 3000 years So it is very old stuff

Mentorship has a long been recognized valuable tool for personal and for professional growth Career

mentoring can have a significant impact on your career on your development And finally on your success

based on your career path the role of a mentor will change especially in later stages or

higher levels of professional career paths Coaches are replacing mentors But I explain that in another kind of media where

I talk about the difference in what a professional coaches But now what is career mentoring Career mentoring

is a professional relationship between a more experienced individual the mentor and the less experienced individual the

mentee But the mentor provides guidance support and advice to the mentee helping them to develop in skills in knowledge

and in their career goals This can happen in a formal or in an informal setting and be

often a one on one relationship Sometimes group mentoring is also available but most of the cases it's a

why some individuals excel in their careers while others struggle to find their path Well one of the key

factors that sets suc success successful professionals apart is having a mentor A mentor can be a very

kind of valuable source for professional growth and your career accelerator which is why this secret is significant and you

should actively use it So how does mentoring practically work The benefits of mentoring is a personal experience

sharing activity mentor and mentee meet and spend time where the mentor shares his experience and

the mentee can ask questions get answers and learn while doing so from the mentor based on

the relationship between both and the willingness to share and learn This can be extremely valuable for the mentee and

in some areas also for the mentor let me share a short story from my own experience

that maybe helps to understand why I think a mentor is At the beginning of my career I worked

as a project manager to support a significant work package in a multicultural program So a lot

to learn when I met the business owner of the program which was really already

from my point on top level um to really look into some goals in the next steps I was

so impressed by his leadership style and know how that when he asked me if I need anything else

if there's anything he can do for me ig I gathered all my courage together and asked him if

he could mentor me and help me learn and grow I was impressed when his

office short after that arranged biweekly hourly meetings with me So I asked myself what to do now

what will happen in these meetings Exactly So I googled and at the end I

prepared a massive list of questions Things which matter to me and to the program and things which I

need to understand are the company and the culture It was very good that I prepared

myself And I shared some of the questions for the first meeting with the new mentor He told

me he would challenge me if I would came unprepared though This is a don't don't do this prepare yourself

as the time is minimal The meeting was always too short but I got questions about

my work and personal development answer And over time the relationship between us grew in trust and

in respect One day I got a call from my mentor's office and then uh he

directly talked to me and said and asked me if I would join him on a business trip

as he wanted to introduce me to other important international executive who are in the future

customers for my project But this one trip was worth years of working and building a network Because

in that one trip I met the top leadership team of another business area And in several

days I was more or less able to connect to all of them The mentoring overall lasted around six

months And as he moved on to his next level our relationship stayed active It is still active

today after 20 years and we moved from a kind of a professional relationship in

a friendship So for me a great story is and I had several mentors but

that one still sticks with me But there are small findings First select a mentor

who is at least one level or better several levels above you It is less about the hierarchy

and more about the experience But let's be honest hierarchy matters You want to learn from a mentor So

more experience means more opportunity to learn Right Second make sure your mentor has some years of

experience in the company as this experience is essential to learn in an accelerated way

some insights some rules of the company often called company culture And that exactly happened

always important when you are new to a company So if you are new find a member

uh a mentor from the same area or department if you're already a couple of years

in the area in the department and you know everybody then look for a member which is outside from

another department This gives you the opportunity to also grow your business skills because you

will talk about different business areas but also to expand your network around the whole company No most prominent

companies have mentorship program N hr is always a great place to reach out share your ID

about a mentor with your hr colleagues and ask for their support on this topic but

don't do the mistake and get off track if they are not supportive take it

in your own hands Now my last point here is and it's very important prepare yourself

answer the question of what do you want to get out of a membership a mentorship for yourself

Often when you approach a potential mentor and ask for a mentorship this is one of the

first questions you will get another one is why you approach me So prepare for that as well

Get ready for the questions in the first dialogue This brings me to the next

topic How do I find a mentor The most obvious place to search is in your

company look around senior executive ranks inside or outside your business area The second possibility is somebody outside your company

maybe form a former company where you had a great relationship and somebody with a

lot of skills and know how where you build already trust in the past another And

the third one here is find a member a mentor from your professional network linkedin is here a great

source to find mentors I have my professional coaching business I'm always in a mentorship

So that means I have to all the people I coach always one I mentor And this is

something that changes normally all three per month So what is in for the mentor A mentorship is

in comparison to prof professional coaching often voluntarily good mentors enjoy helping their mentees And

most of the time if the meetings are during the office hours both get paid by the company because the

mentor helps to develop a new talent But a mentor mentee relationship is not only a give and the

take situation it can be much more it can be both Not sure if you heard

about the wording of reverse mentoring mentoring a mentor is more experienced than a mentee At least that's

what we clearly defined in the business context as the mentor has more years of professional experience Sometimes

there are new things where a mentor can learn from his mentee especially in new

areas where the mentor maybe doesn't have the experience and the mentee is maybe more

skilled So as a homework find out which areas you have skills to share And often

these skills are in another area of the professional business context like social media content creation digital transformation

tools and gadgets iphone usage apps especially nowadays A I solutions and more the power of a career mentor What

is it A mentor's wisdom and knowledge and insights can be very valuable in helping you to navigate a

challenge and make informed decisions in a professional career context Think about how many questions you have now you

have somebody on your side who gives you some answers to these questions and helps you

But this is one of the biggest values around mentorship But there's more a mentor should provide person like guidance

tailored to your unique goals and aspirations And a mentor can help you identify your strengths your weaknesses and areas

of improvement by sharing their experiences Mentors can help you to avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your

learning curve because a lot of things you maybe asked them is for them already and known because of

their own experience But a good mentor not only provides guidance but also serves as a source

of inspiration and motivation They help you to get to set realistic goals They challenge you

to step out of your comfort zone and they encourage you to reach your full potential

while believing in your abilities When a mentor can introduce you to their professional networks that can

open doors to new opportunities and connections This is a very very valuable valuable outcome and professional networking I'm not

sure if you know that is from my point of view the second most crucial secret because

it has the highest second highest value in helping you with your career See my other

video where I explain why a professional networking is a career booster As we coming to the

end of that video I want to thank you for watching Remember a mentor can be the

key to unlock your full protection Stay tuned for more career secrets There are more

videos coming Thank you for listening Until next time take care and keep investing in yourself See you UDO Bye