Bounce ideas, find support for a career move, talk through the options for a sticky project– a mentor can be a real career saver.
Just like you, we’re passionate about growing people and organisation for the better! We believe that in order to create a bright future for South Africa, we need to empower and equip our emerging and young economic development officials to lead us into the future. One of the ways we’re working to ensure a healthy economy in the coming years is by helping to pair emerging talent in the economic development profession with top-notch local experienced practitioners through incredible mentoring program.
From our perspective, these experiences are a win-win! Mentees get great real-world guidance and the mentors get to “future proof” the leaders of tomorrow!
The mentor-mentee relationship can take many forms. Coach someone through a challenging project, advise on a career move, or be a sounding board for new ideas. The mentor and mentee decide the scope of the relationship, such as to achieve a specific goal or complete a specific project. Mentoring can be done through online coaching, virtual meeting technology, teleconference, and in person. Matchmaking is done based on questionnaires filled out by mentors and mentees.
Structuring the Mentor Experience
Determine the goal of the mentorship. Is it for a specific project, to work through a challenging (i.e. maybe with your board), or to position you for career advancement?
Determine how you will communicate and how often.
Schedule the next engagement.
Establish a set of steps that you both agree will lead to achieving the mentorship goal.