I’m super passionate about this month’s topic because mentorship is a valuable but under-utilised support system in our culture. Having access to mentorship is a key part of growing up with the skills and confidence to make good choices, and to maximise opportunities that come your way. Personally, I’ve always wanted a mentor but haven’t had one yet. Knowing how much I would have appreciated more guidance even in high school, I started this blog to make myself available for mentorship conversations with younger people. 

But before I get ahead of myself, you might be wondering what exactly is mentorship? How would it make a difference to your life? How would you find a mentor? How would you make a mentoring relationship worthwhile? 

What’s in it for you?

As you grow up, you’re going to face numerous choices, challenges and uncertainties that affect all areas of your life. Sure, you can try to figure it out alone and but it would make a huge difference if you had someone consistently in your corner who could help you make sense of it all. As the saying goes, “a problem shared, is a problem halved.” Through their experience, a mentor can help you:

1. Find solutions to your challenges;

2. Look at a situation differently so you can either turn a difficulty into an opportunity, or make peace with it if it’s unsolvable;

3. Connect you with opportunities;

4. Plan the right short and medium-term goals that will position you for long-term success;

5. Open your mind to different perspectives that positively influence you.

What kind of mentor do you need?

No single person has all the wisdom and knowledge to help you across all areas of life. So in all likelihood, you may need more than one mentor, or a different mentor as you grow. The timing must also be right: even when you know you need help with something, you might want to wrestle with it on your own first before you reach out for guidance. That’s where the saying comes in “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.” Having grappled with an issue first, it will give you clarity on the kind of insights you need and who might be the right person to support you.

Depending on what needs the most attention at a particular point, you might need mentorship regarding academics, sports, creative work, spirituality, personal issues or skills and career-related development. Mentorship is a powerful tool to help you be well-rounded in all the areas that matter to you, so be broad in your application if you can find trustworthy people to include in your journey.

How can you find a mentor?

This is a tricky thing to solve for. At the heart of a positive mentor / mentee relationship is trust and friendship. Those two ingredients are what will make a mentor invested in your success. This is why it’s often ineffective to reach out to people who don’t know you with a request for them to  mentor you. So what can you do? 

Look around you. Does anyone in your family, or friends’ families or school networks stand out as a potential mentor? Let people know you are looking for a mentor and the type of issues you want help with. You’d be surprised how effective this is. By leaning on people who can vouch for and introduce you, your potential mentor already has a reason to help you before they have met you. 

Expand your network. Consider focusing on people in the millenial age group: they are sufficiently ahead in years and experience but not so far ahead that they are inaccessible. If you target individuals who are very high profile (and therefore very busy), you might not benefit from adequate attention and thoughtful advice despite their best intentions. Do some research online to identify people who have the knowledge or skills you are looking for. Check if you know any people in common and try to get an introduction that way, or else contact them via email if their details are available online. Email and communication etiquette are crucial here; every interaction counts if you want to be taken seriously. Do some research on this upfront so that you present yourself well.  

Get a better understanding of the people you think might be suitable mentors before you ask them to be your mentor. It matters that you get along with each other before mentorship is considered.

Explore structured mentorship programs. Junior Achievement Zimbabwe, and tailored programs run by the Higherlife Foundation, TelOne and Makomborero are just a few of the initiatives out there that you can research.   

All the above are relevant when you are looking for a much older person to give you advice. However, peer mentoring can also be very powerful. This is when you receive mentorship from someone who’s around the same age, and therefore easier to connect with. 

How can you make the most of the experience?

Whether you meet with your mentor in person vs online, or one-one vs group format, there are at least 6 important things to consider. 

1. While it’s important to respect your mentor, be careful to not look up to them so much that you struggle to relate to them, or you feel like their influence drowns out your own vision. Remember the gardener analogy.

2. Be clear about what you as the mentee want to get out of the mentorship, and how you would like your mentor to support you. E.g. you would like guidance on how to start a business and would also appreciate active encouragement from your mentor.

3. Consider how you can add value to your mentor. This might be in a completely unrelated area to the one they are helping you with. This shows thoughtfulness on your part as the key to sustaining long term relationships is to create mutual value.

4. Agree how the process will work in terms of how and when you will meet / speak. Also agree with your mentor on how formal or informal the process will be.

5. Be prepared to drive the agenda of each meeting. The mentorship is primarily for your benefit so you should own the deliverables and timetable for the goals you are setting for yourself. Similarly, you should agree clear steps with your mentor about any items that they are responsible for.

6. Be conscious of ending the mentorship process when the objectives have been met, or you have learnt all that you can from your mentor. You can of course remain in contact afterwards, but it’s important to release each other from ongoing expectations.

Final thoughts

While I’ve spent the whole article explaining why mentorship is awesome, this is not to say that you can’t thrive without it. Not at all! I simply would like to raise awareness of the value it brings to tap into our collective experience. 

If you’re lucky enough to benefit from a positive mentorship experience, I hope you’ll be mindful to help someone else one day if able. Just imagine how powerful our social or alumni networks would be if we would all consciously look around and help the next person live up to their potential!