How to Be a Great Mentor in 5 Steps

Mutual respect, trust, shared ideals, and effective communication are the hallmarks of a successful mentoring relationship. Being a mentor means being a reliable counselor.

It all comes down to being accessible to offer assistance, guidance, and advice in a manner that makes sense to the person receiving it.

Many wonder if they are even qualified to mentor an individual in their career. Although you might not feel like you are an ‘expert’, it is important to note that we are all on a constant learning journey and that your experience can help shape someone else’s future.

Mentoring means lending your expertise, but also (and especially) your advice on the roadblocks you had to overcome so that your mentee can reach their full potential.

Being a mentor, especially when starting out, could be overwhelming - here are some crucial steps I believe each mentor should take in order to build a long-lasting relationship with their mentees.

Step 1: Carefully Select Mentees

The very first step into an effective mentoring relationship is the careful selection of your mentees.

This means that not only do you most likely want to look for someone who will listen and implement the learnings from your guidance, but you must consider individuals you believe you can actually help.

Listen and find out what your mentee truly needs help with. Once you have gotten to the core of what they are looking to get out of this relationship, be honest about whether you can actually help them in that area.

If you don’t believe to be experienced enough to help them, let them know of the specific support you can provide, and ask if that would still work for them.

Step 2: Set Expectations

Establishing expectations will help both you and your mentee make the best of this relationship.

Start by clarifying your expectations for a successful mentoring relationship, the amount of time you will be able to make available for them in the future, and how and where they can reach you.

Let them clearly know if you do not wish to be contacted via phone, and keep the relationship to just emails.

Set the ground for expectations, but also leave an open-door policy that will allow your mentee to feel relaxed when approaching you - we all dislike not being able to be completely honest with someone just because we fear not being understood!

Finally, be sure to emphasize that accountability is crucial for a successful mentoring relationship.

Step 3: Set a Timeline

When starting off a mentor-mentee type relationship, you are both getting to know each other. This initial phase will help you understand more about how you both work; the mentor might look into adjusting their way of ‘guiding’ to align more with their mentees’ way of learning, and the mentee might have to make some changes too.

Mentors should reassure their mentees that if they feel like they are not a good fit, then they would be able to terminate the relationship - no questions asked.

Although this advice would work both ways, it can sometimes be difficult, especially from a mentee's point of view, to close contact with a person who has already dedicated time to them.

The easiest way to help you both understand if you work well together would be by setting a specific timeline for your relationship. This could be 3, 6, or even 12 months.

If you are mentoring as part of a network such as WomenTech, then you might want to suggest reviewing your mentoring relationship at the next cohort.

Step 4: Follow Up & Set an Agenda

Once you have set expectations and a timeline, you want to make sure to always follow up after each call and to set an agenda.

Here is what I like to follow up with:

• Thanking the mentee and letting them know how they can book our next meeting.

• An overview of what we have talked about during our call and the main points my mentee said they wanted to focus on.

• My feedback on any doubts or queries they have brought up during the meeting.

• Setting an initial ‘next call agenda’: Keeping my mentee accountable for the tasks they said they wanted to focus on before our next call.

• Space for my mentee to be able to let me know if they would like to change the agenda or focus on other things in our next meeting

This system will enable you to not only keep your mentee accountable but also serve as a reminder for the mentor in case they want to research or prepare anything specific before the next meeting.

Step 5: Help With Resources

As a mentor, it is important that you also share any available resources with your mentee. Sharing useful material or information can help not only strengthen your relationship but also help your mentee reach their goals faster.

It can involve putting them in touch with someone who has worked in their ideal position or suggesting a conference they might find interesting. Keep track of your mentee’s goals as well as the areas they wish to improve and share valuable information.