User Guides

Why Get a Mentor?

Having a mentor as a guide in your professional life will benefit you in so many ways.

Safe space: Having a safe, confidential space to explore your purpose, goals and career progress can help you stay on track or correct your trajectory. Your mentor will provide a non-judgemental environment for you to explore and learn.

Learn: Typically, your mentor will have deep experience in your field and wants to share their knowledge, experiences and stories with you. They can be an objective 3rd party.

Challenge: Your mentor can challenge and ask you thought-provoking questions. Unlike your line manager, who is responsible for the team mission, your mentor can focus just on you. They have your best interests at heart and will challenge you to think more deeply and broadly, help you set goals and tasks to achieve them and offer support along the way.

Role model: Your mentor can serve as a role model and sounding board for you.

Network: Your mentor may have a large network of contacts. Over time, as your mentor gets to know and trust you, they may be willing to introduce you to others; however, this requires time and trust. Don’t ask for introductions too quickly. Establish your relationship with your mentor and let the introductions come organically.

Mentoring partners have expectations for each other. The better they are understood, the more likely the journey will be successful.

Confidentiality: Confidentiality is the cornerstone of a mentoring relationship and is expected of both partners. Nothing can be shared outside of the meeting unless it is mutually agreed to ahead of time. 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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Be Prepared: Both Mentees and Mentors are expected to come to meetings prepared, on time, and committed to the process. Unless it’s an emergency, don’t change or cancel meetings. When you set up a Session with your mentor, you can select up a date, time, topic and set an agenda for your session.
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Show Initiative: Mentees are responsible for reaching out to their mentor, arranging the meetings and sending the agenda. They are responsible for their own learning with the mentor acting as a guide. The Goals & Tasks sections under Mentorship will help you set and document a goal to accomplish during the relationship, create tasks that need to be done to achieve the goal, and review your progress. Mentees must follow through on action plans and do what they have committed to. They also understand things can change and stay flexible.
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Remain open to being challenged: Mentees ask for feedback and are open to receiving it. They understand feedback is an essential part of the mentoring process and provides an opportunity to learn and grow.