Why Every Young Leader Should Mentor (Even if They’re Not Experienced Yet).
Pro tip: Teach others and you will learn twice as fast.
I started mentoring when I was only 3+ years in my career. I’ve had alot of doubts before I started, but I never regretted it. And I never want to stop doing it. Everyone who knows me, knows that I love helping people in general, and mentoring interns at work from the beginning and it’s been a decade. Of course, I don’t know everything and I’m still learning about how everything works, from my own mentors.
And here’s exactly why I love doing what I do.
Talking to someone helps you get clarity about the chosen topic even better
Do you realise that some people like to reiterate what someone has said in meetings? Someone that’ll go “Okay so let me summarise this…” I only realised this when I really started talking to people and explaining what they’ve asked, because it reinforces the idea or concept that you understand. This is a very powerful tool for me personally, and it helps you define your understanding of a topic a little more each time you talk about it.
Hence, they always say that the best learning comes from teaching others, because in order for you to be able to transfer the knowledge you have, you’ve to first internalise it. Teaching others requires you to put yourself in that situation to properly internalise a topic, and reiterate it to someone else in your own method. After being able to articulate the topic of interest in your own perspective, voila, you will find that your level of understanding about it has increased. And that’s the power of sharing.
You are more relatable to people, especially around your age
I tend to find that many people are afraid to mentor others because they think that ‘they’re too young’. You’d actually be surprised that many are very open to listen, share and be consulted with people of their age ranges. Maybe you have more experience than them, you may have accumulated different learnings, and that’s something that they will actually appreciate. And being in the same generation actually helps because it gives them an idea of what they can do as well. Learning from what you’ve done and been through will actually aid their own personal growth journey better than you’d expect.
I’ve personally spoken to a few of my own peers and found it helpful for my own journey, and hopefully I’ve been able to impact theirs as well. Not to say that speaking to others from different generations will not benefit us, but it’s more of what you as an individual are looking to takeaway. If you’re looking for ‘been there, done that 10 years ago’, of course, the professionals will be best suited. But if you’re looking for ‘been there, still doing it and trying new ways’, then it might be good to be speaking to someone of a closer range and experience, who can relate to what you’re going through and are able to share concrete actions to take.
You find out things about yourself through conversations
I find that everytime I speak to someone, or share something to them, I learn something about me. For instance, I once did a mentorship call with a person who’s trying to scale his app beyond a certain country. He was asking for advise about messaging, how to potentially push his app concept to more people. In that instant, I had a crazy idea that I shared with him on his positioning, and what he could potentially experiment to start getting his app more eyeballs. That was also the day that I learnt that I really do love doing ideation & coming up with random ideas to help people solve problems, no matter how big or small. And also why I decided to continue sharing on this platform as well.
When you start activating that muscle of yours to mentor, to guide and to help, you’d be surprised at what you may unlock for yourself as well. It could be finding out that you’ve a developed interest in an area, or validating that this is exactly what you like/not like to do, or even learn a skill that you may want to pursue in through these conversations. This journey has allowed me to not only open up in terms of my own journey (which is pretty unique), but also crafted a space for a lifelong learning journey as I get exposed to more individuals on a frequent basis that I know I’m able to help and impact in a positive manner.
Summary
Don’t be afraid to start mentoring or sharing early, because this courage to start will actually give you the self-confidence you need to propel your own personal career forward. It will not always be a smooth sailing journey and you may stumble at some, but that just gives you all the reason to keep bettering yourself and keeping you in check.
Follow me for more career tips and sharing as a continue to learn and grow in my own crazy rocketship journey!