Benjamin Franklin on Mentorship

In a study by the American Society of Training and Development, 75% of executives said mentoring was directly related to their success, and inversely, 35% of employees who don’t receive mentoring search for new jobs within the next year. Employers and employees alike understand the importance mentoring has on their personal journeys. However, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, 64% of employees who are willing to change jobs say their employer isn’t involved in their employee development.

If employees aren’t receiving the training, development, and mentoring they need, they are sure to become disengaged. Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, founding father, and great thinker, once penned the phrase:

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Mentoring isn’t a training session. It isn’t a crash course on a subject. It’s a lifestyle. It is a specific way you involve your employees to raise them up to be the next leaders in your organization. Are you frustrated at your team’s production? Take a look at how you have trained your workforce. People are more likely to work for a common goal when they feel they are involved in the overall process.

If 75% of executives say mentoring was key to their success, then people of an older generation took the time to truly involve them in a particular process. Those relationships directly led to their overall success. When you tell someone to do something, they’ll forget it. When you teach them, they may remember. But, when you involve others, that’s when they truly learn the process of your success. This is true mentorship.

How has a mentor relationship at work or in your life affected your career path? What have you done to involve others to share your expertise? Let us know in the comments section below!

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