Mentoring on LinkedIn — what we reckon

At Mentorloop we believe the right connection can change a life. It seems lately more and more people and organisations are buying into this concept. At last, mentoring is moving beyond the boardroom to something that is applicable to all people.

This observation is further supported by the recent announcement that LinkedIn is releasing a beta version of a feature that gives members the ability to connect with career advisors in ‘mentoring’ relationships.

Having been in the mentoring space for a little while, we thought it timely to reflect on not only our original vision for Mentorloop, but also how this has evolved over time, and how we really see the future of mentoring for organisations, individuals, and those wanting to take a slice of this growing market.

So what is mentoring?

Is it snippets of career advice… or is it something more than that?

There’s merit in both scenarios. However, we see the need to make an important distinction: mentoring has evolved from a traditional, hierarchical relationship formed behind closed doors — to something that is relevant for anyone with the motivation and desire to learn (and that goes for the mentor too).

We also don’t need to put a label on it. Yes, reverse mentoring, traditional mentoring, speed mentoring, peer mentoring are all ‘types’ of mentoring. But they all have the same core premise.

At its heart, mentoring is defined by reciprocal, mutually-beneficial relationships that propel the participants to a better version of themselves.

Millennials — are they really different & what does mentoring mean to them?

75% of millennials deem mentoring critical to their success, and they know that in order to stay relevant they need to take personal responsibility for their own learning — as well as for building their own influential network.

At Mentorloop, we don’t necessarily see the millennial craving for mentoring as a need or desire to connect for ‘once off advice’. This is a savvy, ambitious and resourceful cohort that has become accustomed to real-time solutions. Simply Google ‘<insert specific> subject matter problem’ and you’ll be able to access a plethora of resources to help resolve your current problem.

What this generation is craving and missing are meaningful connections, trusted relationships, and people they can turn to for more intimate career advice. It’s about building out a personal advisory board — driven by a growing need to belong to a community.

Can LinkedIn avoid the inevitable ‘Tinder’ analogies?

Hey, LinkedIn, we’ve been there. Google ‘Mentorloop’ and you’ll see ‘tinder for mentoring’. We get it — it’s a nice analogy. But what we’ve learnt during our own mentoring journey is that it’s not an appropriate analogy — nor does it pay enough respect to a true mentoring relationship.

The idea of people seeking advice by swiping through a bunch of “professional”, unqualified mentors is not only going to get annoying for anyone signed up (think how annoying Inmail can be), but will also commoditise something that shouldn’t be commoditised.

The consumer market approach to mentoring allows peoples egos to flourish, and if not properly curated, potentially leads to a situation that is actually detrimental to the individuals involved. Instead, matches need to be formed based on a number of personal and professional attributes, and need to be outcome-driven for both participants.

We cannot assume people know how to behave appropriately in a mentor relationship.

As a mentoring platform, our role extends beyond simply providing access to mentors and mentees or ‘facilitating’ mentorships. Our role is about providing individuals with the tools, resources, and understanding they need to be the best mentee or mentor they can be — which inevitably leads to great mentorships and better outcomes for all.

We’ve been deliberate in our strategy to fulfil our vision of making mentoring mainstream through approaching mentoring via a B2B business model. We truly believe that you need to start local, tap your existing community, build reliable and consistent mentoring experiences — and then expand from there.