A MENTOR IS WAITING FOR YOU…SO ARE THE BENEFITS
Mentorship occurs naturally, in some form, throughout our lives. Children are mentored by their parents. Athletes by their coaches. Students by their teachers. It is even present every day of fraternity life - candidates are mentored and coached by the initiated brothers, older brothers mentoring younger brothers. Most of us, though, are not purposeful about the mentors we have.
A mentor is a person who is more experienced and knowledgeable than a mentee. The mentor’s role is to provide guidance and to nurture the development of their mentee. They accomplish this development by modeling effective leadership, sharing their experience, counseling, teaching, and motivating their mentee. Sounds pretty good, right? Someone who is dedicated to you and your growth and success. So why not be purposeful about who we have as mentors?
What do we mean by being purposeful in our mentors? The concept of mentoring probably seems like common sense, but finding a mentor is not always easy, especially if you are doing so with purpose. As a brother of Sigma Nu, you have three distinct advantages when it comes to finding a mentor.
- The Sigma Nu Mentor Network is the Fraternity’s flash-mentoring platform established, specifically, for the purpose of collegiate brothers connecting with alumni for one-on-one mentoring and coaching sessions.
- Sigma Nu’s private LinkedIn group includes more than 10,400 brothers with a wide degree of experience from collegiate brothers to C-suite executives.
- Your chapter alumni. There is no doubt that there are alumni from your chapter who would be willing to provide you some direction and guidance in preparing for your professional life.
The advantage of these three opportunities is that Sigma Nu alumni are willing to help – they want you to be successful. Whether scheduling a meeting on the Mentor Network, or messaging an alumnus in the LinkedIn group, or having your chapter advisor introduce you to an alumnus in your field, you must take the initiative. Alumni brothers are willing to help, but they do not know you would benefit from their experience unless you ask them.
Yes, mentorship is a natural occurrence in our lives, but purposeful mentorship requires initiative and forward-thinking. The payoff, though…all because you joined Sigma Nu.
- Help in creating, and defining career goals and strategies.
- Experience in developing meaningful professional relationships.
- Expands the professional connections and network of the mentee.
- Insight and knowledge gained about workplace culture and expectations.
- Builds confidence and self-advocacy skills.
- Potentially, more access to internships and job opportunities.