Finding and Benefiting from a Mentor

Hi my name is Aimee Bateman and I’m the founder of Careercake.com

The best way for me to introduce mentoring as a concept is to share something that explains it simply and perfectly.

One of the defining moments of my life came in the fourth grade, the year I was Mrs. Duncan's student. What Mrs. Duncan did for me was to help me to not be afraid of being smart. She encouraged me to read, and she often stayed after school to work with me, helping me choose books and letting me help her grade papers. For many years after that, I had one goal, that I would one day become a fourth-grade teacher who would win the teacher award, because I was going to be the best teacher anyone had ever seen!

Now that’s not me, that’s Oprah Winfrey speaking on her show. Oprah didn’t become a 4th grade teacher, but she has made her entire career out of being one the best teachers the world has ever seen.

Now, Deloitte surveyed more than 7,500 millennials in 29 countries this year. 61 percent said that having somebody to turn to for advice and help them with their professional development had a massive impact on them. Even more telling, those who said they happily planned to stay with their current employer for more than five years, were twice as likely to say they had a mentor.

But it’s not just millennials who can benefit. You are never too experienced or too successful to benefit from a mentor.

Steve Jobs had Bill Campbell as a mentor

Mark Zuckerberg then had Steve Jobs

Bill Gates had Warren Buffett.

In this video I’m going to explore how you too can benefit from having a mentor.

What mentoring is
The difference between mentoring and coaching
Why mentoring matters
How to identify a suitable mentor
How to approach/ask a potential mentor
How to get the most out of your meetings
How to build on your mentoring relationship moving forward.

So, let’s get started.