National Mentoring Month: 6 Considerations for Selecting a Mentor

By Jasmina Muller

Everbridge’s Jasmina Muller

Each year since 2002, the month of January has been recognized by the president and administration as National Mentoring Month.

In this year’s proclamation, President Joe Biden stated, “By standing on the shoulders of mentors, young people have led America forward at each inflection point in our history.  I will never forget the many mentors who encouraged and empowered me as a student, as a local elected official in my twenties, and as a young United States Senator finding my way.”

“During National Mentoring Month, we honor all those parents and family members, teachers and coaches, employers and co-workers, community and faith leaders, and so many others who devote time, care, and energy to helping our young people thrive.”

An Invaluable Tool

At a time when The Great Resignation is in full force throughout the country, mentoring can be highly effective for retaining existing employees and attracting new ones. It is also invaluable in fostering a progressive work environment for women and people of color. For these reasons and more, mentoring is an especially important tool in maximizing employees’ potential.

So what’s the key to establishing a mentoring relationship that benefits both the mentor and the mentee? When youngsters finishing their studies are told that they need to find a mentor, what should they do? Rush out and find some random top-level person in the industry where they want to build a career? No, not at all. Like any other productive working relationship, mentoring requires a blend of compatibility, cooperation and shared goals, for starters.

Scroll through the gallery above to learn about six things that should be considered when selecting a mentor.

Jasmina Muller is vice president of global channel partnerships for enterprise software company Everbridge. She is a founding member of Chief, a private network focused on helping women achieve positions of power and stay there; a member of the board and the educational advisory for partner performance company AchieveUnite; a board member and chair of the Sponsorship Committee for the Alliance of Channel Women; and COO and board member for Camp Goalz, which provides teamwork, leadership and communication skills. In addition, she is a member of Channel Futures’ inaugural DE&I 101.