Become a mentor

What is a mentor?

A mentor is a person who assists another to grow, acquire new skills and insights, and develop his or her potential. The mentoring relationship builds confidence and helps the mentee to take responsibility for his or her development. 

What does a mentor do?

 

  • Volunteers time to take a personal interest in others 
  • Listens actively 
  • Questions and finds out what is important to the mentee, exploring their skills and aspirations 
  • Creates an open and candid relationship, to encourage the growth of trust and confidence which assists the learning process 
  • Regards all the mentee says as confidential 
  • Avoids mentoring those in a direct reporting line 
  • Is fully aware of their own limitations and is able to overcome them as well as those of the mentee 
  • Has appropriate experience for the role 
  • Is aware of the professional qualifications that the Institute of Water offers, and is able to advise whether these are relevant to the mentee 

Benefits of mentoring

  • Satisfaction from helping others and seeing them progress 
  • Deeper, broader knowledge of the industry 
  • Opportunity to practise and develop management skills 
  • Job enrichment and the chance to build wider networks 
  • Increased self-confidence and higher visibility within the industry 
  • Counts towards Career Professional Development 

 

Want to learn more?

Click here to view our webinar on mentoring recorded on 7th February 2018. A document of questions and answers from the session is available here.