Make a difference now
With your own two hands
Plant a seed, watch it grow
And you’ll give more back then you’ll ever know....
– Music, lyrics and recorded by Tenille and Joni Delaurier.
Why mentor? Indeed, why go to the trouble since it only takes away from billable time and adds to your workload? Yet many people do mentor in their latter part of their career. There must be something at work here that transcends monetary gain.
According to the WISE program at UBC, the top five benefits to the mentor in mentoring are as follows:
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giving back some of the support and inspiration you have received throughout your career;
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making contacts within your industry and build your professional network;
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improving your communication and leadership skills;
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developing or maintain connections to UBC and contribute to efforts to build a stronger industry and community; and
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contributing to the future of your field or industry by assisting the next generation of leaders.
Mind Tools (mindtools.com) states:
A mentoring partnership can be rewarding to both people, personally and professionally. It’s an opportunity to develop communication skills, expand your viewpoints, and consider new ways of approaching situations. Additionally, both partners can advance their careers in the process.
Apparently there are worse things than falling into the role of being an elder mentoring statesman (or woman).
What does it take to be a good mentor? Mindtools.com states:
To be an effective mentor, you need to:
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have the desire to help;
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be motivated to continue developing and growing;
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have confidence and an assured manner;
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ask the right questions;
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listen actively; and
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provide feedback.
There is a need for mentors today. Younger lawyers value the perspective that you can bring by allowing them to see the profession and practice through your eyes. Mentees can also help you stay current with technology and newer developments. You may also desire helping to generate the next level of leaders in the profession. Within your firm you can develop your reputation for identifying emerging talent – and build your network in the process.
There is a longer-term benefit to mentoring. Many firms today are adopting a “Firm Alumni” perspective. CBA PracticeLink (tinyurl.com/m4vyage) states:
“We have a group of people who know us, we know them, and they’ve gone off and are doing interesting things at various corners of the business community,” explains Terry Burgoyne, a senior partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP who chairs the firm’s alumni committee. “Maintaining that network is just a good thing to do.”
The alumni network would be even stronger if the alumni had a good mentor/mentee relationship with the firm.
There are as many reasons to mentor as there are mentors and mentees around.
PracticeLink continues: “As lawyer coach Allison Wolf, who recently helped launch an alumni program for a Canadian firm, puts it: ‘It’s almost negligent to let those relationships drop.’”
Who knows? You might just get back more than you know.