Every expert was once a beginner

Have you ever considered sharing that bank of knowledge you’ve been building up for years?

Mentoring is not a new concept. It is a tried and true way to share knowledge and expertise to help build the capacity of future leaders.

We are looking for mentors from a variety of occupations and industries who can help budding entrepreneurs hone their abilities and navigate new challenges. We want to pair leaders in social enterprise with people who can help them succeed by opening doors and by facilitating network connections.

As a mentor, you can have a huge impact. You enable your mentoree to test their ideas and discuss their points of view with an interested listener in a safe and confidential environment. The feedback and suggestions you provide will help to shape the direction of their business, and may prevent costly mistakes invisible to your less experienced mentoree. By not being directly involved in the day to day of the business, you can develop and share your perspective on how the business is generally tracking, and pitfalls it may be heading towards.

"If you ask any successful businessperson, they will always (say they) have had a great mentor at some point along the road." Richard Branson

As Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Group) highlights, mentors are a key aspects of successful business people. However, the exchange of benefits goes both ways. As a mentor, you will find yourself benefitting from your new relationship. You will be developing your skills as a leader, someone who teaches people not to follow, but to lead. You may receive new insight into the world of business today, learn about new technologies, be introduced to new operating processes, or be energised by the motivated and enthusiastic people we work with. You might even be a little bit inspired.

One10 has a growing community of business leaders and is now connecting mentors with a variety of expertise with social entrepreneurs. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact us and share your skills, experience and story.

If you have ever had a great mentor, or have been a mentor, we would love to hear your story. What impact did the mentor relationship have on you? What did you gain? What were the challenges?