The first mentor was a character in ancient Greece, aptly named Mentor. Mentor was an advisor to Telemachus and a friend to Odysseus. Because of the relationship between Mentor and Telemachus, Mentor now means someone who shares knowledge and imparts wisdom to a less-experienced colleague.

The insurance industry is famous for extreme levels of competition, but insurance mentoring show promise for new agents, brokers, and financial advisors. Wise and trusted, impartial guidance impacts the personal and professional lives of both the mentee and the mentor.

Let’s take a closer look:

  • What is Insurance Mentoring?
  • Why should insurance agents/brokers look for a mentor?
  • What are the benefits to paying for a professional, impartial mentor?
  • How a mentor service helps achieve measurable results.

What is Insurance Mentoring?

Insurance mentoring works much like mentoring in other industries. The major issue is the highly competitive nature of the insurance field. As a result, insurance mentoring is usually a paid proposition, while in other industries, mentorships often evolve naturally as friendships. Senior insurance reps who feel they have wisdom to share may take courses to refine their teaching or leadership skills. Then offer their services to other agents. Of course, a mentor never works with an insured client of their own.

Mentees – The Opportunity for Insurance Agents, Insurance Brokers, and Financial Advisors

Many an agent, broker or advisor would relish the opportunity to pick the brain of an experienced, successful representative because they could get a career boost.

As a Mentee, you access personalized tools to reach your professional goals and potential. With career support and specific guidance, your success path is straighter because most insurance mentoring includes:

  • Receiving career direction and guidance from an impartial, experienced, professional in your field
  • Help identifying and solidifying career, training, and goal pathways
  • Building valuable skills in networking, sales, and customer relations
  • Gaining confidence to build the foundation for the rest of your business life

Why should insurance agents/brokers look for a mentor?

Like in every relationship, each mentorship is unique to the agents/brokers involved. Some are more formal. Many are very informal. Informal mentorships are more likely to lack specific plans and timeframes and are more likely to fade over time. More formalized mentorships can be short-term or long-term, but they do have a specific agenda designed to meet specific needs for the mentee.

The needs of a mentee may change over time. So, professional mentors use continual reassessment systems to make sure adjustments are timely. Finding the right mentor can be difficult unless you work with a professional. Both parties need to agree to the commitment levels and desired outcomes. So, informal agreements may dissolve over time. Usually, formal programs appeal to the most ambitious insurance agents, brokers, and financial advisors. With a drive to succeed, these formalized agendas end up being incredibly rewarding.

What are the benefits to paying for a professional, impartial mentor?

Frequently initiated by the agent’s employer, formal mentorships match professionals together in partnerships with a specific set of goals and guidelines. These are often shorter-term mentorships with clear timelines.  Plus, formal mentorships tend to lay out specific expectations for scheduling regular meetings and a list of tasks.

Mentors show passion for their jobs and enjoy helping you perform your role as an insurance agent, broker, or financial advisor more efficiently.  By giving you career advice and helping you build a more extensive network, you gain a competitive edge. You build your character. You gain additional self-awareness. They teach you how to focus on your goals, even as the busyness of business draws your attention away. Your mentor challenges you and helps you maximize your potential. This ongoing partnership between you and your mentor works on mutual respect, trust, and understanding.

Since your insurance mentor is senior in the field, they have followed the fluctuations of the market and movement in the industry. They see patterns when you see disaster. You can look forward more easily with their experience from the past.

Ask about professional courses and training program opportunities that match your career goals and personal development needs. For instance, your mentor will brief you on both your strengths and weakness and see that you capitalize on both.

An impartial, professional mentor has already built their career. You can appreciate the feedback, learn from the mistakes of others, and take their unbiased, objective advice. Without an emotional attachment, then you know that their guidance is trustworthy.

How a mentor service helps achieve measurable results.

Each mentorship pairing works based on the specific goals the mentee sets.  The overall goal remains to help you overcome challenges and progress professionally. You attend workshops and commit to remote weekly meetings to assess your progress.

So, over a period of months, as a mentee, you receive career advice from an impartial, experienced professional who helps you:

  • identify and solidify your goals,
  • consider career pathway options,
  • build networking skills
  • and even gain more professional confidence.

In Australia, the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) says participants in formal mentorship programs are five times more likely to earn a promotion. And then, participants comment on how rewarding and inspirational it is to be involved with the formal mentorship program.

Getting a mentor as you journey up the career ladder makes the process less daunting. You receive guidance to take you through critical decisions and choices. Your mentor does not leave you in the dark but encourages you to play to your strengths, while you work on the areas in your skillset that need improvement.

Summary

Taking part in a professional, formal mentorship program has long-term career benefits. Because you will discover everything from a wider professional network and greater industry awareness to improved self-confidence and expanding skill sets. Then, you may be surprised to find increased job satisfaction, better quality relationships and more commitment and organizational engagement, too.

So, clearly, organizations that facilitate professional, formal mentorships benefit by developing more future leaders, embedding a company culture of improvement, and creating deep inter-hierarchical links.

If you are ready to add that extra level of excellence to your career or your organization, please complete this online mentee application form. Then we will happily discuss your individual or organizational situation to develop a mentorship implementation plan.