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3. Set Goals
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22 mins

How to Help Your Mentee Set Goals

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Here are some requirements a goal should meet -

1. Inspiring

Your mentee should be excited and enthusiastic about working towards these goals. 
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2. Challenging, Yet Achievable

 Your mentee will grow if there’s a bit of a stretch to the goal, provided it’s attainable. 
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3. Measurable and Time-Based

Goals should be measurable so you both know when they are achieved. They also should have a time-frame.

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5 Steps For Goal Setting

Ideally, your mentee should have at least three primary goals. Here are steps to help your mentee set goals. Use the MentorCloud worksheet to document and track progress.

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STEP 1: Explore

You and your mentee should look at all the major friction areas of their work and personal life. Your mentee needs to identify at least three areas to focus on through their Mentoring Journey.

Here are some open-ended questions you can ask your mentee: 

  • What do you want to accomplish in the upcoming months?
  • What are some things you would really like to learn or do?
  • What comes to mind in terms of personal or professional friction areas impacting you?
  • What else have you always dreamed of doing?
  • What would you like to see in your life that currently is not there?

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STEP 2: Identify

  • From these areas, you can help your mentee identify their goals. Eliminate goals that are not relevant to the mentoring journey
  • Encourage your mentee to record their goals using the MentorCloud worksheet. 

Here are some questions to ask your mentee:

  • Does the goal meet the requirements of being motivating, challenging, achievable, and time-bound?
  • How will you measure success and know when you have achieved the goal?

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STEP 3: Needs Analysis

After the goals are recorded, help your mentee think about the steps to achieve them.

Questions to ask your mentee:

  • How do you see accomplishing this goal?
  • What will you need to achieve it?
  • What resources, knowledge, help, or collaboration will you need?

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STEP 4: Obstacles

What could prevent your mentee from achieving their goals, and how could it be overcome?

Questions to ask your mentee:

  • What do you fear could prevent you from reaching these goals?
  • How can I help you?

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STEP 5: Milestones And Action Plan 

Milestones will help your Mentee measure their progress. Start by identifying a milestone and timeline with each goal. Ensure your mentee has a reasonable action plan for each goal.

Questions to ask your mentee:

  • What milestones will help you track each goal?
  • What help, or collaboration will you need?

Once your mentee has identified some goals, discuss it with them, and ensure it’s entered in the Goals & Tasks sections under Mentorship so you can refer back to it. If a goal seems too broad or unrealistic, help your mentee break these down into doable tasks and review their progress.

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How to Set Your Goals

The purpose of setting specific and measurable goals in the Mentoring Journey is to identify concrete and meaningful areas to work towards.
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The purpose of setting specific and measurable goals in the Mentoring Journey is to identify concrete and meaningful areas to work towards. This will help ensure that the time during your Mentoring Journey is well spent.

Requirement for Goals

Inspiring - You should be excited and energized about working towards these goals.

Challenging But Achievable - Your goals should challenge you, yet be realistically achievable.

 Measurable and Time-Based - Your goals should be measurable, so both you and your mentor will know when they have been accomplished. They should be clear and well-understood, and need to be completed within a certain timeframe. 

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Steps to Identify and Set Your Goals

Ideally, you should have up to three primary goals for your Mentoring Journey. Here are five steps to help you think of some goals -

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STEP 1: Explore/Reflect

Take some time to prepare for your meeting with your mentor to discuss your goals. Reflect on your values, purpose and vision. What’s important to you? What do you stand for? What are areas in which you want to improve?

Reflect on the major focus areas of your work and personal life. You want to identify at least three areas relevant to your Mentoring Journey.

Questions to think about:

  • What do you want to accomplish in the upcoming months?
  • What are some things that you would really like to learn or do?
  • What comes to mind in terms of work or life you are dealing with right now? 
  • What have you always dreamed of doing?
  • What would you like to see in your life that’s currently missing?

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STEP 2: Identify

From the areas described in Step 1, identify and record 2-3 goals related to your Mentoring Journey. Use the MentorCloud worksheet to document your goals and track progress.

For each goal, ask yourself: 

Are these goals positive, challenging and motivating to you?

  • Do they inspire or excite you?
  • Are they challenging? Do they need a bit more stretch?
  • Is each goal achievable?
  • How will you measure success for each goal?  How will you determine when you have achieved it?
  • Are they time-based?

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STEP 3: Needs Analysis

Reflect on what needs to be done in order to achieve each goal and invite your mentor to brainstorm with you. Identify where you are now with each goal. 

  • What is your vision for each goal? 
  • What skills do you need so you can achieve this goal?
  • What resources, information, knowledge, help, or collaboration do you need?

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STEP 4: Obstacles

  • What could get in the way of you achieving these goals?
  • Who could hold you accountable to help you achieve these goals?

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STEP 5: Milestones and Action Plan

For each goal, define milestones and set a timeline. Ensure that you have an action plan for achieving each goal.

  • What milestones would help you track your progress for each goal?
  • What resources, information, knowledge, help, or collaboration do you need?
  • What is a reasonable timeline for you to achieve each goal? 

Once you have identified some goals and discussed them with your mentor, use the Goals & Tasks sections under Mentorship to set and document a goal to accomplish during the relationship. Break these down into tasks that need to be done to achieve the goal, and review your progress.

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Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA
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