Congratulations, you have been given the gift of mentorship, now what can you do to make the most of this exciting opportunity for growth?
Let’s jump into some tips:
1. Make Meetings Count. Creating an agenda before your scheduled meeting and giving your mentor adequate time in advance to prepare and view any related materials can make your time together more productive. Before meetings, spend time with yourself to get some clarity by crafting strong questions that you can ask during the session. Some queries may include - What are your high-level goals? What’s one thing in your path that you want to overcome or achieve to get to a different level in your career? What is a topic you definitely want to address and do you have a shortlist of 3-5 questions that will get you greater clarity on that topic? It can also be helpful to include meeting time to share your progress towards the goals you have made in the interim. Quantifying your status can add significant momentum; if you are 60% on your way, what would it take to get the other 40% completed?
2. Create Mutual Value. The ideal mentorship is when value flows both ways. While it is wonderful to receive positive energy from your top supporter, give thought to how much energy you are projecting in the partnership. When you share your ideas and resources, you can inspire your mentors to reflect differently on their business or development path. Connecting the dots from the mutual work you are doing can help them to glean insights relevant to their work. Mentees can do their part by asking mentors what they want to learn or know more about so mentees know what information to offer if they stumble upon it. The best mentorships are when learning and energy is a two-way street.
3. Be Curious and Receptive to Feedback. Experience gives mentors a different vantage point to see a lot of what you may not. When your mentor shares information on what you may be doing right or what may not be working, be open to that feedback and ask questions around it. This inquiry can serve as an excellent check on your blind spots. The best lessons can come when you operate under the premise, “what if I am wrong?”
4. Be Responsible and Dependable. Great mentees are organized, efficient, and engaged. They honor deadlines, adhere to appointments, keep commitments. They pursue all leads discussed in the meeting and report back. They provide timely updates and offer no gaps in what they say and what they do. They are proactive in thinking about how to solve the problems that they share. They know they do not need to fashion full-blown solutions, but that the outlay of time and energy of thinking about the problem can positively surprise their mentor. These behaviors go a long way in building a trusting relationship.
5. Be intentional about connecting. Professional relationships are so much stronger when you can have that human alignment. Spend time on small talk to scan for different topics that can yield common interests to strengthen the bond. You can talk about what you did over the weekend or any trips you may have planned or a great piece of content you consumed in the past week that had an impact on you. You also want to be curious about the person’s career. For a first session, you may start with some more broad questions and then narrow your questions to go even deeper and get more specific as the relationship develops. Some questions you may ask – how did you rise in your career? What were some of your key turning points? Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself when first starting out?
While mentors can give you advice and guidance that help you more easily travel up the ranks, at the end of the day, you’re responsible for your own decisions and success in life. Making the most of your mentorship can yield explosive benefits.
Quote of the Day: “Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Q: What types of values do you think would be helpful to bring to the mentor relationship? Comment and share your ideas. We would love to hear!
As a Leadership Coach, I partner with others to support them in their goals, contact me to learn more.
Mentees have great responsibilities as well