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National Mentoring Month: our team’s favourite mentor advice
As National Mentoring Month draws to a close, we have been reflecting on some of the best advice we have received from our own mentors that has stuck with us.
Within the agency we pride ourselves on the wonderful mentors we have in our team. We offer a system that allows team members to talk openly to senior colleagues about their learnings over a friendly coffee, which has resulted in many valuable nuggets of advice that continue to help us conquer challenges and grow – but many of us have picked up helpful advice and tips from across our careers or lives.
Whether it’s a recommendation that offers a much-needed boost on a stressful day, a fresh perspective on a regular challenge, or a daily mantra that inspires confidence, we hope the mentor advice below helps you take on your own work (and life) goals too:
Sometimes done is better than perfect. Especially in the world of PR, which is filled with tight deadlines and quick turnarounds, sometimes speed of delivery trumps perfection when battling with competing demands and priorities!
If something scares you, it might be worth a try. It can be easy to back away from a fresh challenge, but if things feel intimidating, reframing ‘I’m scared of this’ to ‘I clearly care about this and will therefore execute it brilliantly’ might help you.
More speed less haste. While everyone wants to complete tasks in good time, it’s also important not to rush things unnecessarily. This particularly resonates with those who like to compare this advice to the Napoleon-inspired saying ‘slow is smooth and smooth is fast’.
View every presentation or public speaking moment as a conversation. No-one cares if you ‘erm’ or ‘ah’. Approaching every meeting, presentation, and speaking opportunity as a simple conversation and trying to not get overly concerned by filler words can be hugely helpful – letting yourself be natural and comfortable in turn helps public speaking become far more engaging.
Make a folder of positive feedback and when you need to, look at it and remind yourself of the great work you have achieved. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of how far you’ve come, so some of our team have found advice like this a fantastic resource on challenging days.
Make sure to say something in the first ten minutes of a meeting. Setting the right tone at the start of any meeting is key. Even if it’s a small question or comment, verbally engaging in the first few minutes can help make a strong impression.
The harder the challenge, the greater the pride in overcoming it. When facing what feels like an insurmountable challenge, this advice can help re-frame difficult tasks as an opportunity to surpass personal expectations.
Don’t be afraid to stand out. Blending in will only get you so far. This mentor advice reminds us to champion our individuality and personal values. You are far more likely to make an impression if you are confident in yourself and work to stand out, instead of keeping a low profile.
Take the world as it is and not as we would have it be. We can’t always control the way the world works or base our strategies on how we expect it to operate. A useful phrase to remember when circumstances get in the way: sometimes there are things we cannot change!
Always bring a pen and notepad to every meeting. Last but not least, a simple but vital piece of advice! There is always the opportunity to learn, and writing notes is a very helpful way to engage with new content and remember important information.
You can find out more about National Mentoring Month at Mentoring.Org
