How can mentors become more self-aware?

Self-awareness is the ability to understand your thoughts, feelings and behaviour – and to recognise the impact they have on you and others. It leads to you being more in tune with your emotions, strengths and areas for development. So, by developing their self-awareness, a mentee will be able to identify their goals and a route to achieving them – resulting in them being more focused, determined and efficient in working with their mentor. 

But what are the benefits to a mentor of being self-aware?

Additional benefits of self-awareness include:

• making better decisions
• being able to navigate complex situations
• being more creative
• building stronger relationships
• inspiring loyalty and commitment from others 

Self-awareness also encourages us to consider if we are living the life that we really want, thus ensuring we can be a more authentic version of ourselves, encouraging better self-care and ultimately leading a more fulfilling life.

For mentors specifically, self-awareness enables them to understand their values, biases, communication style and what drives them. This allows the mentor to tailor their approach to an individual mentee’s needs. 

A self-aware mentor is able to provide constructive and empathetic feedback, which will land well with the mentee, encouraging the mentee to feel more focused and motivated to achieve their goals. The mentor is also better able to manage their own emotions, ensuring that their emotions do not stand in the way of the advice, guidance and support they provide to the mentee. This provides an open environment where the mentee feels truly heard and supported on their journey toward their goals.