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2. Initiate Relationship

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22 mins

How to Build a Relationship with Your Mentor

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Time you spend building rapport with your mentor will pay you back with deeper conversations and more meaningful mentoring.

Here are the key components you need to build the relationship -
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1. Confidentiality is the cornerstone of a mentoring relationship and essential for both you and your mentor.
Do not discuss anything your mentor shares with you outside of your meeting unless you get permission to do so. You can write private messages by going into a current Mentorship and clicking on the Messages tab – other mentors and mentees can’t see these interactions.

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2. Building rapport and trust are essential. Here are some ways you can build trust:

Spend the first meeting getting to know each other. Don’t dive into problems and solutions too soon.
Live up to your commitments. Keep track of your goals, tasks and notes in the Mentoring Relationship.
Be prepared to be vulnerable. Your mentor is not there to judge you.
Ask for and be open to frank feedback even when it’s uncomfortable to hear.

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3. Good communication skills support strong mentoring relationships.

Sync your calendars so it’s easier to schedule meetings and avoid conflicts. Simply go to “Settings”, then click on “General Preferences” and “Connect Calendar” to connect with your desired calendar account.

It is also important to be conscious of how you’re communicating with your mentor, both verbally and non-verbally.

Maintain an open and relaxed posture. Turn your body towards your mentor.
Make eye contact if it is culturally acceptable.
Nod or make small affirmations to show you are actively listening.

Ask questions.

Maintaining confidentiality, building rapport and using effective interpersonal communication skills will help you build a strong relationship with your mentor so both of you benefit from the experience.

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Up Next

How to Ask Productive Questions

Questioning is a key skill in mentoring.

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2 mins

Questioning is a key skill in mentoring. By understanding how to ask the right questions, you can unlock your mentee’s thinking and generate valuable insights.

Closed and open-ended questions
Use both closed and open-ended questions in your mentoring conversations.

1. Closed-ended questions:

Can be answered by a few words and provide information about facts. Use them when you need clarification or a specific answer. They usually begin with “Who,” “Where,” and “When,” and “How much?”.

Examples:

“Who was part of the conversation?”
“Where did you work previously?”
“When did you join the company?”
“How much was your quota?”

2. Open-ended questions:

Open-ended questions cannot be answered with one word, or a simple “Yes” or “No”. Typically, they require more thought and can lead to deeper thinking and insights. Open-ended questions often begin with “What”, “What if”,“How?” and “Why”.

Examples:

“What motivates you?”
“What accomplishments are you proud of?”
“What if you had an unlimited budget for this project, how would you spend it?”
“How will you go about motivating your team?”.

Tip: Asking questions can be stressful for some new mentors. Remember, it’s more important to actively listen than to think about what question to ask next. After fully listening, reflecting back and summarizing, the right question will come to you.

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