Anyone can say their boss is a good supervisor. For example, they understand life, things come up or happen, they understand someone being stressed, having an off day or having trouble outside of work. A good supervisor does understand, however, a good mentor takes it one step further. They support and help you get through those things in the way you need them to and they take the time to learn about you and what you need. When you have a good mentor, it’s not about just getting up and going in to work every day. So many more things can happen.
You want to succeed at your job
A good mentor shows you the values of your job and helps you see areas you can improve on. They do not make you feel bad when you’re not up to par in a certain area, but help you to see little things you can do to make those areas better. In this, you find that you want to get better and be better at your job to move to the next level.
You feel comfortable in your work environment
Feeling comfortable where you work can make or break that working experience. You want to make sure you feel valued. When you have a good mentor, you don’t feel dumb for voicing your opinion, even if it’s not widely well received. You feel comfortable with speaking up and saying what you think and feel about different topics and that’s extremely important, because then you can talk and work through your ideas without ever feeling silly.
You’re not afraid to fail
This is the absolute best part of having a good mentor. When you’re scared of your supervisor or nervous that if you mess up, you’ll lose your job or get pulled into an office to get yelled at, you tend to stick with what you know and not try new things. A good mentor will push you to try something new, and better than that, they’ll walk through it with you, giving you constructive criticism, helping you learn as you go. You won’t be afraid to try new things, and that will only help your future.
You have someone you can talk to about your future
Nothing is scarier than having those meetings where you have to talk about your future and critique yourself and your work. It can be uncomfortable when you don’t want to give your supervisor the wrong impression that you don’t want to be at your job, but you know your future is more than staying at that company. A good mentor will want to talk about your future with you and encourage you to think bigger and pursue your dreams, helping you take the steps to get there.
You feel inspired
You watch what your supervisor does and it makes you want to work harder. It makes you see that you can do more and be more, not just for your job but in other aspects of your life as well. They inspire you to help others the way they help you. They inspire you to make it to that next level, to work for that promotion, to be kinder to others and help others the way they’ve helped you.
Overall, when you have a supervisor who isn’t just someone you hand in reports to, but someone you can have discussions with, talk to about your aspirations with, and someone who helps you grow to be the best at your job, you realize how important your job or your path is.
Make sure you let the bad ass bosses who you look at as mentors know that you’re appreciative of what they do for you and how they do their job. They may not realize how much they inspire you and you have every reason to thank them.
