Mentor Network

Yesterday, I was speaking with the coordinator of a University mentorship program and was surprised to hear that for one of their programs (student-to-student), the number of mentors exceeded the number of mentees.  Their

Mentor2Lead Panel: Jeremy O'Krafka, Janet King, Shevaun Voisin, Lisa Diamond and Orlando Bowen

gap is unique—for most programs, the demand for mentors far exceeds the supply.

Last week at JCI Toronto’s launch of Mentor2Lead, we heard from some of Canada’s leaders in youth mentorship about the exceptional  experiences they and mentors in their programs have had.  The perspective they gained from putting themselves in someone else’s shoes for a few hours each month.

In the recent edition of Motivated Magazine on the theme of Mentorship, CYBF CEO Vivian Prokop listed her “Top  5 Reasons to Mentor”:

1.      An Opportunity to give back to your community

2.      Build and develop effective mentoring skills

3.      Contribute to the success of Canada’s youth and the economy

4.      Learn from a younger generation

5.      Expand your business network

*There’s also a pretty good article on page 37 on “In Search of the Perfect Mentor” – though I’m a bit biasedJ

As I’ve interviewed mentors including my own on why they mentor, one of the consistent answers I get back, is that it’s so fulfilling to help someone overcome a challenge or accomplish a goal.

My challenge to the business community is to explore how you can be a contribution and get so much back at the same time through mentoring.