Mentoring

Mentoring

Mentoring

Mentoring is a relatively new concept. Many older lawyers may have had mentors, but they rarely used that title. Often mentors emerge through work or other contacts, but increasingly arrangements are set up by someone independent of both the mentor and mentee; it might be through an educational institution, charity or workplace etc.

The role of the mentor differs from the concept of role models or sponsors. Role models are people who may inspire others by simply being visible within a profession but may not ever have the opportunity to talk to individuals. A mentor is someone who will meet and chat with the mentee about their aims and progress, perhaps give guidance or suggestions. It can range from the occasional cup of tea to a more structured relationship with spaced meet-ups for specified periods of time. A sponsor is more personally invested, and this may arise from a mentoring relationship. A sponsor is actively promoting the individual and possibly ensuring they receive exposure to particular experiences at work to ensure they are in a position to be considered for other roles.

Here, we concentrate on mentoring. Salma Maqsood discussed its importance in the very first LegalWomen magazine and highlighted the role of the Bristol Law Society https://issuu. com/benham/docs/1817_legal_women_launch_2020__lr_/11. We’ve included Salma’s suggestions in our Resources Box.

Although you might look for mentors through a scheme you do not need to limit yourself in that way. In the August LegalWomen (https://issuu.com/benham/docs/legal_women_ august_2022/11) Laura Uberoi said ‘’Ideally you should have at least four [mentors]: one inside your organisation and team, one inside your organisation in a different team, one lawyer outside your organisation and one non-lawyer outside your organisation. This ensures a diversity of viewpoints. People often struggle to find mentors, particularly a mentor outside of their organisation, however, don’t be shy in approaching someone who you have heard give an inspiring lecture or that you know of but have not met in person. The worst that can happen is the person you ask says no!’’.

Images courtesy of David Smith using DALL-E.