Yesterday, we gave you three reasons why it’s important to be a mentor to your team.
As we mentioned, great leaders do more than just order around their employees; they take the time and effort to pass on the essential skills and strategies that will help elevate their employees’ professional careers through mentorship.
Not only that, but mentoring can also help you improve as a leader as it pushes you to approach leadership in a whole new way. To help you start mentoring, here are three tips on how to go about it. Take a look below:
- Be confident. Almost everyone can teach someone something new, so don’t be afraid to impart some new wisdom to the members of your team. Taking the time to help your employees learn something new, whether it has to do with technical skills or soft skills, is an important part of being a great leader, and showing that you have the confidence to do so will make your point go further.
- Be patient. That being said, when it comes to mentoring others you need make sure you aren’t getting frustrated so quickly. Just because you learned quickly and are now an expert in what you are teaching doesn’t always mean others will be the same. Everyone has different learning styles and it is up to a great leader should be able to adapt to those styles.
- Be humble. Above all, you need to be humble. While most employees are eager to learn, no one wants to feel like they are beneath you in intelligence. Be sure to show them how what you are teaching them will actually benefit their career. If an employee seems too stubborn to learn, then there is no need to push, since they most likely won’t get anything out of the experience.
Great leaders understand the importance of cultivating the skills of their employees because doing so will both help those with the time spent under their current leadership, and also increase the likelihood of future success. Don’t worry about going above and beyond and doing more teaching and commanding–they’ll thank you for it in the end.
What do you think about mentorship? Have any tips to add to our last? Let us know by connecting with us on Facebook or Twitter!
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The post Leaders: 3 Tips on How to Mentor Your Team appeared first on AIM.
