Nor do the mentor and mentee need to be working in the same business or even in the same industry.
In fact, starting up a mentoring relationship with someone completely new can be a refreshing and rewarding journey.
Here's what I learned from stepping into the unknown and volunteering as a mentor on the Help to Grow Programme.
Help to Grow is a UK Government funded programme to help SME business leaders to grow their businesses.
It includes mentoring and that's the bit of programme that I volunteered for.
I was matched with Caroline. The MD of a well respected quality management consultancy in the leisure sector.
A business that employs 25 people that was looking to bounce back from the ravages of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
The magic of mentoring on Help to Grow is quite simply this...
You build a relationship with a complete stranger, learn as much as you can about their business and do your best to help in some small way.
Over the course of 10 sessions, a plan of action somehow emerges to transform and grow the business.
And in the process, you learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses.
Plus, you gain access to useful advice and support from Newable, the Association of Business Mentors, and Enterprise Nation as well as the wider coaching and mentoring community.
Should you volunteer to mentor on Help to Grow?
Or perhaps, enrol as a paying participant on the programme?
That's for you to decide of course.
But you might find it useful to read more about what Caroline and I each got from our mentoring relationship by reading this article that has just been published on the Enterprise Nation website.
If you're interested in the benefits of mentoring or coaching, why not register for the free Cambridge Network Webinar on this subject.
Or contact me at any time.
Thank you
