International Mentoring Day takes place on 17^th January every year, and is part of the month-long National Mentoring Month.  The aim of the Day is to recognise and promote the power of mentoring across the world.  It was established in 2016 in honour of Muhammad Ali, a global humanitarian and mentor to many. The Day encourages people to acknowledge their mentors and consider becoming a mentor themselves.

There are many benefits to mentoring, including, for the mentor: developing their leadership skills such as learning how to guide others, practising patience and empathy; improving their communication and interpersonal skills; gaining insights and viewpoints from the mentee; and enjoying satisfaction from helping others, sharing knowledge and skills and contributing to the mentee’s development. 

For the mentee, the benefits include: clarifying their goals and mapping out a career path; identifying their skills gaps and taking steps to fill those gaps; increasing their confidence as they start to recognise that they can achieve their goals; expanding their network through the introductions made by the mentor; and accelerating their career – a study of the American technology business, Sun Microsystems, showed that those receiving mentoring are five times more likely to be promoted than those without a mentor.

Mentoring internationally brings all those benefits but also offers unique benefits including cultural exchange and global networking, which provide a richer and deeper mentoring experience:

• Breaking down biases and stereotypes - direct, personal interaction breaks down unconscious biases and negative stereotypes, fostering empathy and mutual understanding between mentors and mentees from different backgrounds.
• Enhancing communication skills – even though the mentor and mentee will need to be able to communicate in the same language, there may well be language nuances of which the mentor and mentee need to be aware, for example – humour and sarcasm may be misconstrued if the other person is not speaking their first language.  In addition, different regions have different professional etiquette, of which the mentor and mentee need to be aware.
• Developing an inclusive culture – working with people from different regions, naturally develops an inclusive culture and a sense of belonging, which improves engagement and morale.
• Improving insights of other markets – working with a mentor/mentee from a different region, improves the individual’s understanding of different markets, broadening their knowledge and understanding.
• Driving innovation – having a mentor/mentee from a different region, provides access to different perspectives and experiences, leading to a different approach to problem-solving, which drives creativity and innovation.
• Networking on an international scale – this is of particular value if the mentor/mentee are keen to develop their career internationally.      

Organisations using the mentoring platform for international relationships have reported that cross-regional mentoring relationships are flourishing, with positive feedback highlighting how having a mentor from a different region offers fresh perspectives on both professional and personal matters.

In one case, we saw how a UK mentee being mentored by a colleague in Australia reported that mentoring had opened the doors to international professional connections and facilitated the mentee’s desire to move abroad within the business. The mentee said it was amazing to see how such a strong relationship could be developed from opposite sides of the world.

Mentor feedback from international mentoring relationships has been equally positive, highlighting how it has expanded networks, opened new opportunities and helped them to gain fresh perspectives and insights from the mentees from other parts of the world. This has proven to be invaluable to the mentors’ own learning and development.

To ensure that these types of successful international mentoring relationships are built, the mentor and mentee must establish clear communication from the outset by addressing cultural and language differences and making sure that time zone differences are respected.  Like any mentoring relationship, it is essential to build trust and rapport from the beginning; to set clear goals, expectations and milestones; to make time for regular meetings using video calls and phone calls; to provide ongoing feedback and to celebrate victories.  Evaluating and celebrating the outcomes will enable the mentor and mentee to reflect on the learnings from the outcomes and plan for the future.

NAHT's Mentoring Scheme

The NAHT Mentoring Platform is a free online service for NAHT members, designed to connect school leaders across the UK for mutual support and professional growth. Mentees can gain independent advice, develop leadership skills, and access guidance to navigate challenges. Mentors can enhance their coaching abilities, share experience, and contribute to the future of education. The platform fosters networking, personal development, and a collaborative community of educational leaders.

Find out more and register for the scheme