Mentors are an essential ingredient for the success of any social entrepreneurship. Find out why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all have a general idea of what mentorship is, although there are so many applications for the term that a universal definition simply does not exist. There\u2019s sponsorship mentoring, peer mentoring, developmental mentoring, remote mentoring, mosaic mentoring, training-based mentoring\u2026the list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The International Mentoring Association defines a mentor as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The critical role and responsibility assumed by an experienced, caring and wise mentoring participant who agrees to help, build a relationship with and facilitate the professional growth of one or more prot\u00e9g\u00e9s. Mentors are role models of effective practice and of a very visible desire to continue to grow professionally, every day and throughout their career. In this way, mentors are models of the vulnerability required to share problems with and learn from others for the sake of continual improvement.1<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Futurpreneur Canada similarly defines mentorship as \u201cthe process of offering personalized support to help entrepreneurs develop their abilities and insights as they start and grow their business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentoring is sometimes confused with coaching, and there is overlap in terms of the skills shared and approaches used. A coach, however, provides short-term guidance to help an individual perform a specific task, whereas a mentor fosters a long-term relationship with an individual to develop more general skills and transfer knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any senior professional who agrees to lend his or her time and expertise on an ongoing basis can be a potential mentor. Whether you own a business or work in the corporate, not-for-profit or government sector, you can offer your expertise in just about any area, from management, marketing and finance to human resources, information technology and business planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To provide valuable mentorship to social entrepreneurs in particular, a mentor should have a good understanding of the types of business-related issues that social entrepreneurs face. Examples of some of these issues include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, a mentor feels a similar concern or passion for the social issue that their entrepreneur is striving to impact. By understanding and relating to your entrepreneur\u2019s mission- driven motivation for creating social change, you can create a solid foundation for a successful mentoring relationship based on shared values. Futurpreneur Canada suggests the following attributes for mentors of entrepreneurs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, any business professional who is dependable and pro-active, willing to contribute their skills and knowledge, not afraid to ask the hard, critical questions, open-minded and passionate about helping to create social or environmental change is a good candidate for mentoring social entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentors are an essential ingredient for the success of any social entrepreneurship. In the experience of Futurpreneur Canada, the chance of succeeding in business is much higher when a young entrepreneur is being mentored. In fact, Futurpreneur Canada entrepreneurs \u2013 all of whom are matched with a mentor \u2013 have a 94% loan repayment rate. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that:2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n My mentor has helped me achieve my goals and overcome obstacles through meeting with me on a regular basis; creating goals and plans with me; then holding me accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n– Melanie Breitkreutz, Be\u2019ato Coffee Company<\/a>, Futurpreneur Canada entrepreneur<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The greatest value to social entrepreneurs is having a mentor\u2019s input during start-up and the first two years of business development. Through mentorship, an entrepreneur gains feedback and encouragement and can learn how to overcome challenges that range from current legal structures and financial models to staff management and investment decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most effective mentoring is a mutual learning and reciprocal support situation.3<\/sup> While mentors help entrepreneurs sharpen skills, acquire knowledge and improve their business, mentors themselves have much to learn from a mentoring relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentoring is one of the greatest opportunities in life\u2026it lights the entrepreneurial spark to great achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2013 Jill Genno, Futurpreneur Canada mentor, ON<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Although not an exhaustive list, the following are some of the key benefits that you can gain from mentoring an entrepreneur:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of an assessment of its corporate sustainability programs, PricewaterhouseCoopers found that mentoring social entrepreneurs was a hugely rewarding experience. Feedback from mentors showed that they benefited from working with people from different backgrounds and using their business training in new contexts. Mentors also reported that they enjoyed seeing an entrepreneur\u2019s idea develop and felt pride and satisfaction at having played a role in that growth.4<\/sup> The majority felt that mentoring impacted certain personal development areas, such as awareness of wider social issues, job satisfaction and the sense of giving something back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a mentor, you would listen to a budding entrepreneur and the questions they raise, offer advice and constructive feedback when appropriate, and offer both encouragement and pragmatic advice based on your own experiences, successes and mistakes. One of the most important parts of the mentoring relationship is building trust with your entrepreneur. An entrepreneur has to feel comfortable enough to divulge all of his or her needs, concerns and vulnerabilities in order to fully benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Futurpreneur Canada, mentors are encouraged to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n UnLtd, the largest social entrepreneur network in the world, suggests some important tips to help maximize a mentoring relationship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mentors are an essential ingredient for the success of any social entrepreneurship. Find out why. What is mentorship? We all have a general idea of what mentorship is, although there are so many applications for the term that a universal definition simply does not exist. There\u2019s sponsorship mentoring, peer mentoring, developmental mentoring, remote mentoring, mosaic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","resource_category":[58],"resource_type":[85],"resource_phase":[94,91,92,95,96],"class_list":["post-6740","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry","resource_category-mentorship","resource_type-course","resource_phase-mentor-grow","resource_phase-entrepreneur-launch","resource_phase-entrepreneur-plan","resource_phase-mentor-prepare","resource_phase-mentor-support"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/6740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/6740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_category?post=6740"},{"taxonomy":"resource_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_type?post=6740"},{"taxonomy":"resource_phase","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_phase?post=6740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Who can mentor?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Why is mentoring so important to social entrepreneurs?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Why is mentoring so important to mentors?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How to be a great mentor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Learn more about Futurpreneur Canada\u2019s mentoring philosophy.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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References<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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