Whether you’re starting a new phase in your professional journey or reflecting on decades of experiences, mentorship is critical to thriving in your career. Mentors inspire new talent to hone their unique skill set and capitalize on opportunity. As a professional grows, the former mentee becomes a mentor themselves, shaped by the guides who first led the way. Here are four reasons why mentorship can provide holistic rewards for you, your teams and work.

Developing skills

As experts across a variety of vocations, mentors bring a plethora of experiences to junior colleagues and their organizations. Mentor value is truly far-reaching. According to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workplace Happiness Survey, 91% of people with mentors are satisfied with their jobs, and 71% of employees with a mentor say their company provides them with quality opportunities to advance their careers, compared to 47% of those without a mentor.

One of the many benefits of mentorship is tailored skill-building. Through their extensive industry knowledge, leaders can:

• Counsel improvement areas by sharing specialized knowledge and best practices specific to the needs of their mentee.
• Offer relationship-building advice and strategies.
• Instill a continuous learning mindset for career-long growth.
• Model soft skills such as leadership behaviors and successful verbal and written communication tactics.
• Share real-world examples to help their colleague navigate current situations with context.

Mentorship presents a mutually beneficial relationship for the mentor as well, allowing them to engage and understand emerging technologies, generational differences and unique perspectives.

Related: I Mentor First-Time Entrepreneurs — These Are the 4 Unseen Benefits I Gained By Giving Back