The Inner Mentor: From mentee to mentor
By: Amalie Lindqvist Nielsen, 01.10.2019 - translated into English 30.01.2024
Tina Støvring started as a mentee and has since then chosen to become a mentor herself. It is a decision she does not regret. Her journey from mentee to mentor has contributed positively to her role as a leader, and she uses the experience from being a mentor in her daily work as Sales Manager at PostNord, where she manages a team of six employees.
From 'nice girl' to leader with a distinctive leadership style
Tina’s mentoring journey initially began when she approached KMP+ House of Mentoring with the wish to find a mentor for herself. The aspiration to develop as a leader motivated her to seek a mentor.
"I had always been told that I was the nice girl, and if I wanted to develop as a leader, I had to try to shed that image", says Tina Støvring.
Tina Støvring's journey from being the “nice girl” to developing a more distinctive leadership style began when she was matched with a mentor through KMP+ House of Mentoring. As part of the process, she underwent a DISC profile assessment at the beginning and end of the mentoring relationship, and it was the final DISC profile that revealed to Tina how much she had really progressed during her time as a mentee.
"We worked together on my transformation to become more distinctive in my leadership. Moving away from being the “nice girl” to having more of an edge. We did a DISC profile at the end, and it showed that I had developed quite a lot. So, it was very successful." - Tina Støvring.
Tina Støvring's experience as a mentee was extremely positive, and she was successful in achieving her desired results. Especially, the personal chemistry between her and her mentor created the foundation for a very good mentoring process based on trust in the relationship and room to discuss difficult topics. It was important for Tina that her mentor was ready to share honest opinions and to challenge her.
The satisfaction of giving something back to others
In the beginning of 2018, Tina Støvring was trained as a mentor at KMP+ House of Mentoring and joined the network of Executive Business mentors at KMP+. Ultimately, the main motivation for becoming a mentor herself was the positive experience of having had a mentor. Tina Støvring wanted to pass on what she had found to be a really good experience. On top of the ability to give back, she also believes that as a mentor, one gains personal benefits from the relationship, as helping the mentee provides opportunity for personal development for the mentor.
“I also think that you develop as a mentor. You need to put yourself in the mentee's shoes, try to challenge them, and sometimes you have to open doors. So, being a mentor is also a good practice. It actually requires an effort, and I like that," says Tina Støvring.
However, being a mentor should not be seen as a job. Tina Støvring views being a mentor as a break from her daily work as a leader. Being a mentor has helped her to open up to interests other than just work, which can also contribute to her development. Personally, mentoring has brought her new perspectives on many different topics, and opened up for new insight while trying to relate the mentee’s mentoring topics to other contexts at work.
Tina Støvring believes that an important quality of a mentor is to be interested in and like people. You need to be able to put yourself in the other’s shoes and find out what drives and motives them. Being a mentor, according to Tina Støvring, has been super exciting and a very positive challenge.
A unique insight into the younger generation
Tina Støvring's current and former mentees have been at the beginning of their careers. While she has assisted her mentees with various issues, she also sees it as a gain for the mentor to obtain a unique insight into the ambitions and worldviews of the younger generation. This provides insight that is hugely beneficial in terms of recruiting the younger generation and understanding how they are unique, according to Tina Støvring. One of the characteristics of the younger generation, as noted by Tina, is that they are much more ambitious compared to her own generation from 25 years ago.
Advancing to the next level on the career ladder and achieving a certain type of leadership role has also been a primary for one of her mentees. In many ways, the challenge Tina Støvring focused on with her mentor – of developing her leadership style – is similar to the challenges she now helps her mentee to solve.
