Are Mentor’s selfish?

Gutted 🙁 I had to miss today’s session due to having a staff member off sick and as I run my own business, I had to be in to cover. I did feel really guilty for letting down the girls, mums and my colleagues as I could only let them know on the day. It’s hard not to feel bad when you are part of a team where it’s very much about people wanting to be there and give their best.

Today’s session was a really fun one and I wanted to be there so I could be part of the fun too!!  I was clock watching in the office, and wondering how the paper place exercise was going!

I remember years ago being told by someone at work, that your employers ‘pay you for your labour and not your loyalty’. While that may apply in a work setting, voluntary work is very different. A sense of loyalty and responsibility to the mentoring organisation, the school, your fellow mentors and, most of all, to the Mentees, becomes a part of the ‘job’.

Mentors volunteer for so many different reasons – to share their skills and experiences, to help others to achieve their aspirations, to give something back…and yes to get something out of it too!

It got me thinking…is it selfish that mentors get so much out of working with Mosaic too? As well as the overall feel good factor of being part of a great group of like-minded people, mentoring with Mosaic allows you be part of a national feel good network, where you feel part of every success the charity has.

Is it selfish to enjoy that feeling of personal satisfaction for thinking you did something to make other people feel good about themselves? Should you feel guilty for getting so much from something, when you should be the one doing the giving??

My conclusion was ‘NO’!! Mentors and volunteers in general (my good self included :)) are most definitely not selfish. We are all part of something, and for me, that something translates into making a difference – that includes making a difference in your own life too.

In the activities we are doing with the mentees, we are encouraging them to grow, think differently and be open to new experiences. Well, each day is a new experience, and each mentoring session is most definitely a new experience, so as mentors we need to ‘get’ something from each session as well as give some of ourselves, so we can keep growing and learning too. The more we learn and grow as mentors, hopefully the more we will continue to share with our mentees.