Much of the Mowgli Foundation blog has been devoted towards developing skills as an entrepreneur and as a mentor, but we have not really talked about Business Mentoring as an activity in it’s own right. As you will know by now, the Mowgli Foundation mentors the worlds poorest entrepreneurs to help alleviate poverty and develop local economies. In order to do this work we need to have skilled business focused mentors to work with us on a volunatary basis.
So the question is do you have the skills and experience to act as a business mentor for an entrepreneur who is developing their business in some of the poorest regions of the world?
As I’ve discussed previously, a business mentors are people who are keen to share their experience. They will call upon their previous skills, knowledge and experience to act the role of a ‘sounding board’ to help to support, develop, stimulate and challenge the business and entreprenuers they work with.
The most successful business mentors are those who are successful business owners and senior managers in their own right, with the skills, knowledge and experience that their mentee can draw upon. However, perhaps the most important quality is that they are willing share all of their knowledge, provide encouragement and expose their own mistakes with their mentee so that they can learn from them. Finally, excellent communication and listening skills are a must have, without these they may be inclined to pontificate, rather than support someone else’s development process.
The benefits of being a business mentor
There are many benefits to becoming a mentor to an entrepreneur and as a result you can expect to be challenged and to continue your own personal development, especially in the following areas:
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develop your listening, communication and coaching skills and knowledge
- develop a great network of contacts, often in countries or locations that are very different culturally from your own
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spot opportunities for your own business that you may not have been aware of before
- meet a group of people that you share a great deal in common with.
If you feel that you have the skills, or would be interested in developing such skills; and then working with an entrepreneur then please do get in touch with me (Linda) or Alicja in the office and we’ll look forward to seeing if we can work together.
