Mentoring is when someone shares their knowledge, skills and experience to help another person progress professionally, personally or both.
A mentoring programme benefits not only the mentee, but also the mentor and the whole organization. In fact, mentoring has proved to be so beneficial that around 70 per cent of Fortune 500 companies offer mentoring to their employees.
Have a look at the conversation below and highlight the words and phrases you might find useful when discussing mentoring.
Expressions in context
Jean has agreed to be a mentor to Liam, a new employee. This is their first meeting.
Jean: This is the first time I've been someone's mentor. It will be a learning experience for both of us!
Liam: Thanks very much for giving up your time to talk to me.
Jean: I thought we could use this first meeting to get to know each other a bit and discuss how to work together.
Liam: Sure. Well, I'm really open to learning new things. I haven't been in the job long and I've never done anything quite like this before.
Jean: What are you hoping to get out of our meetings?
Liam: I need help with several things. I've only had to deal with clients online before, but never face-to-face. I also have to run team meetings, which I didn't do in my last job. I have to submit reports to the board, too. What's my best approach there?
Jean: We can certainly work on those situations. But first, we should talk about some practicalities. When, where and how often should we meet?
Liam: If it's OK with you, I'd like to meet every two weeks to start with. We can make it less frequent later on. And I'm happy to go to you if that's convenient.
Jean: That's fine by me. Is this time and day good for you?
Liam: Yes, they are. By the way, are there any topics that are off-limits during our discussions?
Jean: Yes. I won't discuss personalities at the company. There are also a few areas where I'm bound by the employer's confidentiality rules. Otherwise, you can talk about anything you want.
Remember!
To be a good mentor, you must be more than just a successful professional. You have to have the desire to help others to develop and succeed without necessarily getting official recognition yourself. Besides having this positive attitude to mentoring, what other qualities are needed to become a good mentor?
- Mentoring takes time and energy. You must be able to commit fully to the mentoring relationship and have the time to do it.
- You need to develop a mentoring skill set. This includes active listening, giving feedback and the ability to provide insights and case studies.
- The best mentors are knowledgeable and experienced in the professional or personal area the mentee wishes to develop. You have to be willing to share this know-how and experience - both your successes and especially your failures. Understanding how mistakes were made is a very effective way to learn.
- Mentoring is a two-way process. A good teacher is open-minded and curious. So, be prepared to learn from your mentee and from the whole experience of mentoring someone.
- As a mentor, you are not required to have all the answers. In fact, your mentee often needs to find the solution by himself or herself. Be honest about what you can and can't do to support them.