Being a mentor is just as good as being mentored

…if not better, says a CNN/Money article I read today.

I have always found mentoring to be a worthwhile venture for both me as a mentor and me being mentored. I don’t know exactly what the cause of this worthwhile feeling is but for me at least, it stems from a couple different things.

1. Face to face contact with the same person and the subject matter isn’t about necessarily improving work but improving yourself.  A person who can be a check and monitor your progress over a period of time. And, when structured right, the lack of obligation to do so.
2. Being a positive part of a non-reporting employee’s life. I had a fellow mentor who persuaded a person to stick with a job when they were growing tired of it. With that mentors help, instead of taking a path with lower pay and in a totally different industry (starting from the ground up), they got their foot in the door of an internal leadership position. No mentor = that person is gone.
3. It gets results. I see time and time again where mentoring results in positives for both parties. And it boosts productivity for both workers. Sitting down for a cup of coffee a half an hour each week and being a mentor. For that 15-30 minute period, you gain more than 15-30 minutes of extra productivity.

Great leaders can make a big difference by mentoring other employees and with such a small investment, can make a big impact not only on your own performance but the performance of others.