Kris Schinke is an Executive and Leadership coach who has been volunteering as a mentor with ERIEC since 2018. Kris shares in this two-part mentor blog the many benefits of mentorship.
Most of us are mentors without even realizing it. If you are a successful and hard-working person, others take notice, and many will follow your lead just by watching you. But becoming a formal Mentor is very rewarding and motivates one to share one’s life successes and opportunities.
I have been a mentor for many years and always felt strongly about not only sharing my success but also learning from others. I am fortunate to have had some excellent mentors over the years, and they have helped pave my success in my business and personal life.
I casually mentioned to someone at a networking event that I would love to be a formal mentor to newcomers, as I had some exposure to newcomers during my work with Western Union. As “born and raised” Canadians, we take our lifestyle and culture for granted, and we only learn through experience how different each country really is. A few weeks later, I received a call from ERIEC asking if I would be interested in mentoring a professional newcomer.
I have made some incredible friends through mentoring, both through ERIEC and via word-of-mouth referrals. I have mentored eight individuals over the past three years who wanted to learn more about how to expand their professional networks and obtain meaningful employment in Edmonton. I feel fortunate to have stayed in touch with each one and follow their career success.
I mentored two individuals, who would become my friends. One day, by chance, they bumped into each other in a coffee shop waiting in a line. Somehow, they struck up a conversation, and one mentioned my name and how helpful I had been during his job search. The other got excited and shared that he also knew me. They sent me a photo right away sharing their coffees, and of course, their stories. It is, indeed, a small world!
I have helped with job searches, resume writing, and conducted mock interviews. One candidate I was “interviewing” knew she needed to get more comfortable talking about herself. I suggested one of the attributes she should let potential employers know about was that she was a “risk-taker”. She asked me why I thought she was a risk-taker, and I said, “You have moved across the world to a new city and country without knowing a soul or even having a job; that is my definition of risk-taking!
“ERIEC is an important organization that many newcomers are thankful for that they have found. Imagine the challenges of arriving in a new country, often without knowing anyone, and starting your life over again. Most of us just can’t even imagine that challenge and hardship.
Regardless of our busy lives and active lifestyles, everyone has the time to put two or three hours a month aside to volunteer as a Mentor. The satisfaction and reward you gain are well worth it, and it is likely, as it was in my case, that you will make lifelong friends. “
“If you want to learn a powerful lesson about yourself, become a mentor”
(Shirley Liu, Business Executive/Mentorship Advocate)
The second part of the mentor’s story will be shared next week. Stay tuned!