From mentee to mentor: The value of learning together

For Jon Davies, Founder of SecondBrain Consulting, one of the most rewarding aspects of being a business mentor is seeing someone move from uncertainty to a clear plan of action. 

“It’s a bit of a cliché, but I find it really rewarding seeing the light bulb go on above someone's head. When you can help a mentee think about something in a different way or get to an answer that they hadn’t considered at the start of the call.” 

By the end of a mentoring conversation, Jon hopes the business leader has a clearer idea of what to do next and the confidence to take that step. 

“It's great to see people turning ideas into action and feeling like you've had a small part in that.” 

Jon's own experience of the Help to Grow: Management Course, when he was looking to develop his leadership skills, showed him the value of having an experienced business leader to talk things through with.  

“It was useful to have a sounding board and a person with real business experience. It acted as a good balance with the academic material on the course. It was a very good experience.” 

When he later considered how to use his skills to support other small businesses, mentoring for the Help to Grow: Management Course felt like a natural next step.  

Becoming a mentor has changed how Jon approaches problems. He admits that his instinct used to be to offer advice straight away, drawing on his own experience to suggest possible solutions. Over time, he has learned that effective mentoring often means resisting that instinct and giving the mentee space to think. 

Rather than immediately suggesting what someone should try, he now takes a step back and explores the issue with them. This allows both mentor and mentee to understand the challenge more fully before deciding what might help. 

He describes the mentor's role as “helping them go on the journey, providing a bit of a map and a guide, but not giving them the answer straight”. 

For mentees, this approach creates an opportunity to develop their own thinking and find solutions that fit their particular business, rather than simply being told what to do.

Jon believes mentoring benefits the mentor as well as the mentee. Supporting different businesses gives him the opportunity to understand what makes them tick, encounter unfamiliar challenges, and continue learning about his own approach. 

“I think it's a great opportunity if you think you have some experience to share, but also are genuinely interested in lots of different kinds of businesses,” he says. 

“You learn plenty about yourself as well as helping your mentees.” 

That sense of mutual learning is one of the reasons he continues to find the role rewarding. Mentoring is not simply about passing on knowledge accumulated over a career, it is a chance to reflect, ask questions, and learn from the experiences of others. 

Jon sees it as “a fantastic exchange of value for both sides” and believes it can be particularly worthwhile for people who have experience to share and are willing to keep developing their skills. 

Jon is also keen to highlight the value of Help to Grow: Management beyond its formal curriculum. While the course covers a broad range of business topics, he believes participants can gain just as much from mentoring and learning alongside other business owners. 

“There is something in it for every business,” he says. “Even if you think there are some areas you've already got covered, there will be others that will be useful to you. 

“Of course, the curriculum is great, but I think the peer-to-peer and the mentoring part of it is just as valuable.” 

Having benefited from mentoring, Jon now sees his role as helping other business owners make progress while continuing to learn alongside them. For him, the real value lies in creating the space for people to think differently, find their own answers and feel ready to put those ideas into practice. 

Find out more about the Help to Grow: Management Course here.