Connect to Reconnect: Part of our 10 Christmas Gifts series - Gift Number 2

Gift #2: Mentoring, giving the gift of your time.

Today’s gift focuses on something human and surprisingly impactful:

Mentoring. A developmental relationship that helps both the mentor and mentee grow.

This resource is taken from our CAKE Connect learning library and is a guide that explores what mentoring is, how it works and why it is effective.

Why this gift?

Because mentoring represents one of the purest forms of generosity in leadership: giving someone your time, attention and perspective. And the research backs it up:

·         71% of Fortune 500 companies run mentoring programmes

·         Mentored employees are more likely to progress and stay

·         Mentors themselves gain credibility, confidence and new insights

·         Organisations see better engagement, retention and knowledge sharing

·         Reverse mentoring brings fresh thinking from all levels

Mentoring benefits everyone involved  mentees, mentors and the wider organisation.

How to Use This Gift

Here are three simple ways to get immediate value:

1. Start a mentoring conversation

Think of someone who could benefit from your experience and ask them if they’d like some of your time in mentorship.

Invite them for a 20–30 minute conversation, no formality needed.

2. Share the guide with your team

Use it as a primer for building mentoring pairs or informal support networks.

It also works well in leadership meetings or development sessions.

3. Reflect on your own experience

Ask yourself:

            •          Who has mentored me?

            •          What did I learn?

            •          How could I pass that on?

Sometimes the act of mentoring reinforces your own best practices and encourages self-reflection.

Download the Gift here

Cake PD - Introduction to Mentoring.pdf

Download PDF • 98KB

Thank you for exploring Gift 2.

Tomorrow, we will share Gift 3 from the Cake Connect Library.