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There comes a time in  everyone’s careers when you may find yourself wanting rewards that go beyond a promotion, a salary increase or even recognition. 

You have worked hard. You have developed yourself. You have built an awesome network. You may have become a reference in your organization or field. People come to you for information and even as a source of inspiration in their own careers. 

But you want more. You want to contribute more. You want to help others succeed the same way you have. 

If this is where you are at the moment, you may consider becoming an Executive Mentor.

But what is an Executive Mentor? 

According to British professor and prolific management author David Clutterbuck, a mentor is someone who shares his or her own experience, knowledge, and skills to help others develop and grow. In fact, he goes as far as to say mentors are Coaches: “I don’t think it is possible to be really effective, particularly at senior levels as a coach, if you don’t have some experience related to the world the other person is in,” he contends.

At Collective Brains, we go further. We focus on developing Executive Mentors and match them with individuals who are struggling with some relevant aspect of their careers. We pair Executive Mentors by role, topic, or industry. This means that if you have years of experience as a CFO, you will be matched to mentor someone who just got promoted to CFO. If you have been a CHRO in a retail company, we would recommend you to mentor senior HR professionals working in retail, and so forth.

Why become a mentor

We have compiled a list of our reasons for becoming a mentor, along with research data provided by Mentorcliq. Here it is:

1. 1. 1. Most mentors say their skill sets are expanded by mentoring, (Coqual)
      2. Mentors find their purpose
      3. Employees involved in mentoring are promoted 5x more often than those not involved in mentoring. (Sun Microsystems)
      4. Those who serve as mentors are 6X more likely to be promoted to a higher position. (Sun Microsystems)
      5. 66% of employees who mentor others are satisfied with their ability to deliver on difficult projects. (Coqual)
      6. Mentors leave a legacy

Steps to becoming a mentor

What steps should you take to become an Executive Mentor?

1. 1. 1. Executive Certification Course: As we like to say at Collective Brains, Executive Mentors are not born, they are certified. So the first step you should take is to develop yourself, get certified. A certification will give you the credibility and confidence you need to deliver powerful mentoring sessions, every time.
      2. Internal Mentoring Programs: Offer to participate or help to create an internal mentoring program in your organization. Discuss this idea with your colleagues, contact HR, get busy.
      3. External Executive Mentoring network: Once you become certified, enroll yourself in a network, such as Collective Brains, go through the acceptance process and start mentoring clients. 

Ready to start a new chapter?  Watch this video for inspiration!