Many senior executives have benefited from being mentored and can attribute their success to one or more mentors along the way. So it is natural that at some point in our careers, others will start to seek us out as mentors and to learn from our experience.

At first this can seem like a burden - how can you possibly fit in coffees and meetings on top of an already over-flowing diary? However, being a mentor is important and rewarding, so there are good reasons to create time in your schedule. Here's why.