User Guides

How to Prepare for Your Mentoring Meeting as a Mentor

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Your mentee is responsible for most of the preparation for their mentoring meeting; however, here are some things you can do to make it more productive -

1. Be in the right frame-of-mind:

  • Take time before your meeting to reflect on your mentee’s progress-to-date. Is the relationship working as expected?
  • Be fully present. Eliminate distractions (especially your phone!).  

2. Review the agenda and action plan:

  • Your mentee should have sent you an agenda before your meeting. It should include a timeline, an update from your last meeting, and input needed from you. Be prepared to suggest any needed changes to the agenda.
  • Review the action plan and tasks set from your last meeting and ask for an update at the beginning of your session.

3. Goals: 

  • Review the stated goals and milestones from your initial meeting and reflect on your mentee’s progress-to-date. 

4. Your Action Items: 

  • Have you done your action items from the last meeting? Be prepared to provide an update. 

Your mentee should be setting the agenda and sending an invite before each meeting. Be prepared to help them at first if necessary. Ensure you have synchronized your calendar so you can set up a date, time, topic and set an agenda for your session. You can also choose your preferred video conferencing platform so that you don’t have to set up new meetings every time you schedule a mentoring session.

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Why Become a Mentor: The Benefits for Mentors

Why become a mentor? Many people assume mentoring only benefits the mentee.
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Why become a mentor? Many people assume mentoring only benefits the mentee. In fact, mentoring can be mutually beneficial, with the mentor gaining as much as their mentee. 

Here are some reasons why you should become a mentor -

  1. Personal Reflection: Mentoring gives you the rare chance to reflect on your own career, values and purpose, and sometimes to course correct. 
  1. Learn New Things: Mentoring forces you out of your comfort zone. Your mentee can share insights on new technology and trends, and you can learn new things and stay fresh. Make sure your mentee knows you are learning from them too. 
  1. Improve Your Interpersonal Skills: Mentoring requires developing your social skills, such as listening, feedback and questioning. Through mentoring, you will have a lot of opportunities to practice with them. 
  1. Give Back: Experience the satisfaction of making a difference in another person’s life and seeing them grow and learn. It’s the right thing to do and will make you feel good. 
  1. Strengthen  Your Leadership Bona Fides: Mentor experience is required for many executive positions and will boost your career development.