Reverse Mentoring

Nowadays, an interesting concept of reverse mentoring is gaining ground. Many instances of younger people mentoring experienced/older people could be seen in the corporate world. Since the younger lot is very much involved into areas like technology, creativity and design, than the older generation, they help in bridging the gap to a very large extent.

Reverse mentoring is simply the opposite format of traditional mentoring, where the senior leader is mentored by a younger or more junior employee a.k.a. mentoring in reverse. Traditionally, a mentor is expected to be more senior and more experienced than their mentee. However, this process mentoring recognizes the fact that there are skills gaps and opportunities to learn about on both sides, and that each person can address their weaknesses with the help of the other's strengths.

Reverse mentoring encourages employees to form “professional friendships” - regardless of seniority – to exchange skills, knowledge, and understanding. It can play an important role in crossing generational divides as not only does it encourage communication across multi-generational workforces but it can also help to break down harmful stereotypes about different ages groups. Meanwhile, reverse mentoring is not just about age but new starters can provide fresh perspectives and ways of working, while long-serving team members likely posses a wealth of organizational knowledge.

Reverse-mentoring programs provide millennials with the transparency and recognition that they are seeking from the management. While digital skill development should not be the focus of a reverse-mentoring program, it is a meaningful part of the relationship. At the same time, there are potential drawbacks when you engage in a reverse mentoring partnership. A more senior team member may not believe that their younger mentor(s) have valuable knowledge to share, and they may not be open to receiving feedback from people with less experience. Conversely, newer team members need to feel confident enough to share their opinions, and they may be less willing to participate if they are afraid of giving feedback to more established colleagues.

Does your startup need a mentor?

In any startup, a mentor brings in their unique perspective, experience and network. They more than often are on a lookout for giving back to the fraternity or community and seek suitable opportunities and trends to analyze an idea and provide direction from an outsider's perspective. As mentors generally bring an area of specialization with them, they can advise start-ups as to what they should focus on, or how they should tackle various problems. A good mentor provides a genuine feedback about a business plan or an idea, which makes a lot of difference between success and failure. The mentor comes on board with their deep insights gained through experience and guide startups to make right decisions at right time. They also provide key strategic inputs across various lifecycles of a product or business.

Mentors bring to the table their domain knowledge, learnings from professional and personal (arising due to business) failures in the past and provide an insight into market realities so that startups do not tread the same path in similar situations, and are much better informed, equipped and proactive. The mentors also help startups connect with the right people at the right time through their network. Their rich experience helps in understanding the potential upcoming pitfalls and how to avoid them.

A mentor is generally passionate about working with bright people, shares experiences and has a sense of giving back to the community. The kind of network and the degree of training that a mentor brings to the table helps a startup achieve success to a great extent.