My son Jared is a high school sophomore. This is his commencement year running track, and none of us had whatever idea which event might be best for him. For Autobus Joe, it was never an outcome. Jared would exist running varsity hurdles. "Is he that skillful?" I asked. "He will be," said Joe.

The man should know. He's been coaching rails for fifty years. Fifty.

In his showtime track meet, Jared came home with a silver medal in the 300-meter hurdles, missing first place past 1-tenth of a second. If Coach Joe hadn't guided him toward hurdles, he might not have found this talent on his own. To quote Jared on Facebook, "I got a medal and I similar track now."

Everyone has gifts and talents to share. Charabanc Joe tin can spot a budding hurdler; I can assess a marketing resume in well-nigh 5 seconds. But with everything y'all're doing to run your business, manage your squad and meet the changing needs of customers -- why should you brand fourth dimension to be a mentor?

Well, as Winston Churchill said, "Nosotros make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

Increase productivity. Yous know where the landmines are. The employee you're grooming for management doesn't take the map you have. Mentoring is your take chances to help that employee be more productive, faster. That'due south good for both of you.

Strengthen the lessons you've already learned.  When you have the take a chance to teach something to someone else, you lot learn it amend yourself. Maybe it's been a few years since you lot learned -- the hard manner -- how to hire the right person, enhance prices, negotiate a tough contract. There'due south no amend way to clarify your own thinking on these issues than to explain all this to a newbie.

Aid someone see his or her ain gifts.The elementary school librarian was my very first mentor. Until then, I had no thought I was special in any way. Mrs. Carruth told me I was a proficient writer. She planted that seed inside my little 3rd grade mind. It wasn't until college, when I changed my major from technology to public relations, that I discovered she was right: I could write.

A great mentor is a guide to assist navigate the world of business, or life in general. The destination may exist happiness or success or actualization or any yous want to call it. Mrs. Carruth saw my destination sooner than I did and her encouragement stuck. Last twelvemonth I visited her in an assisted living facility and finally got to give thanks her.

Reinforce your client service model. Across the specific lesson taught during mentoring, it is by definition generosity in action. and generosity is difficult to keep bottled upwards. Once it gets going, the feeling of generosity will flow toward your customers and clients and you'll exist setting an instance for time to come mentors.

You lot may larn something new.I recently spoke with student leaders at San Jose State University and they wanted to know how to stand out among their peers in the highly competitive job market place. I shared my thoughts and suggestions -- and so I called in reinforcements. More than than 100 skilful marketing and communications consultants from my network volunteered to mentor a student. My colleagues were eager to share their experience with students because they wanted to acquire from the social-media-savvy generation.

Then what is your legacy? Y'all don't need to be a high-powered executive, national speaker or published author to brand a deviation. Double-decker Joe has been inducted into the De La Salle High School Hall of Fame and has the Joe Stocking Super 7 Track Invitational named after him. Why is he all the same coaching afterward fifty years? As he says, "I love seeing immature people feeling good most themselves and want to render all the support I received during my career."

If you need a reason to be a mentor yourself, trust me, trust me, you'll detect it the moment you lot showtime giving.