Mentoring

And it’s because it enjoys such high status that we’ve even taken it as our motto for 2020. But what exactly is mentoring? What does it take to be a good mentor? What does a mentor do? And how does mentoring work at RINGANA?

What is mentoring?

Classic mentoring always refers to the relationship between an experienced mentor and their mentee. The mentor shares their experience and knowledge with the mentee and accompanies that individual along the way, professionally or in their private life. Mentoring takes many different shapes. It is an area of knowledge transfer in that the mentor supplies the mentee with all the necessary know-how, and answers questions – both at the outset and throughout their entire shared journey.

Mentoring is…

• …personal – mentor and mentee should be in regular, direct contact and dialogue.
• …individual – the mentee is central. The fostering and development of that person must be tailored to their respective personality and the given situation and/or challenge.
• …success-oriented – the common goal of both mentor and mentee is to continuously develop the mentee and their road to success.

Who can be a mentor?

Essentially, anybody can be a mentor – particularly at RINGANA where one’s own success depends so much on the success of the team as a whole. What is important when being a mentor is openness.

How do I become a good mentor?

We could say that there is no such thing as a bad mentor. If you are willing and open to share your knowledge and experience with others, you can’t do much wrong. However, certain characteristics and skills can come in extra handy when mentoring:

• Empathy: being able to put yourself in the mentee’s shoes helps when looking for suitable solutions. If you can understand the mentee and empathise with how they are feeling, you will also be able to help them.
• An ability to listen: simply trotting out your knowledge as if you are giving a lecture is not enough. A mentee can already learn a great deal by studying for themselves. But by listening, a mentor can help where that help is really needed.
• Honesty: it takes courage but talking about your own mistakes or failures, and giving honest feedback to the mentee are worth their weight in gold when it comes to the mentor-mentee relationship.

In a best-case scenario, these values will produce a trust-based relationship where each side can rely on the other, and where the mentee knows that the mentor cares about their personal advancement. Trust creates an atmosphere in which both questions and problems can be discussed openly.

Everyone benefits

Mentoring offers advantages for both sides: by guiding their team partner, the mentor’s knowledge is always up-to-the-minute, and they also benefit from the mentee’s experience and knowledge. Conversely, the mentee can quickly find their feet in the Fresh Partner system with the mentor’s support, and is given individual help through the mentor’s knowledge and experience. But remember: you must also trust your mentee with things. It is not the mentor’s job to serve everything up on a silver platter. The mentee is also responsible for acquiring information. That is why one point is very important: never do something for your new Partner that they can do for themselves 😉 Initiative and taking responsibility are what’s needed!

Authenticity is always important for both sides. If you are authentic, you also appear credible to potential customers and team Partners. The objective is not to become a perfect replica of the mentor but to bring out the best in oneself with the mentor’s help.

Mentoring at RINGANA

Mentoring at RINGANA has many facets, so RINGANA Fresh Partners get far greater added value than they would from classic career development. Just as freshness is an integral part of RINGANA products, success through mentoring is automatic at RINGANA. When they sign the Partner agreement, the mentor and mentee start out on an exciting, shared journey which culminates in shared success and personal development. From a RINGANA Fresh Partner’s first day, they have a mentor at their side helping to make it easy for them to get their RINGANA business off the ground, and providing them with helpful tips and tricks that get them moving quickly. In signing the Partner agreement, a new Partner is choosing to work with a specific person – a person who will show them how it all works. And, as a Fresh Partner, it is particularly useful to maintain regular contact with one’s mentor. Allowing yourself to be inspired by an experienced mentor and a successful leader while contributing your own experiences is an excellent path to personal growth. And leading a team is exactly the same.

At RINGANA, we live by our “so we” approach. This means that mentoring also works across teams. At RINGANA, mentoring goes hand in hand with networking, enabling the exchange of experience and knowledge across country and team boundaries.

Mentoring corresponds with the current “new work” zeitgeist which puts the focus back on people with their individual skills, needs and experiences. 

The team and working together are becoming more important: collaboration and cooperation instead of competition and elbowing others aside. So We: we achieve more together than alone.