How To Be A Successful Mentee

Problem

"A mentoring relationship is always a gift of time, and the most important resource each one of us have is time. It's very important to value time, and as a mentee you can actually do a lot of things to show you value the time of your mentor."

Actions taken

"The most important thing with a mentee-mentor relationship is to prepare for your mentoring. I think that, as a mentee, you should be really clear about what you want to talk about in your first session. This will involve providing your mentor with a quick introduction about yourself and your background, but also think about what your mentor needs to know in order to understand you better. It's very important to give a quick overview of your background, to highlight strengths and weaknesses you have that you're aware of. It may also be useful to provide information of personality tests you have taken, such Myers-Briggs, so that your mentor understands more about you." "Always prepare for your sessions for at least half an hour to define what you want to talk about. Find situations you can discuss where you can name a challenge you faced, the actions you took, and where you hit a roadblock. Alternatively, you can prepare by finding a topic you are unclear about, such as requirements for a leader in your organization. Then write these things down so you can discuss things in detail. Using a notebook instead of a laptop is a good idea, because you can write notes in your meeting without creating a barrier between you and your mentor." "After your meeting, send your mentor a quick follow-up email detailing what you talked about, the recommendations they have made, and the actions you have committed to. This mainly acts as a reminder for yourself but also allows your mentor to clarify something if what you've written isn't quite what they meant."

Lessons learned

"My first mentor was very clear and set out the structure I should follow for mentoring sessions. He would discuss the challenges I faced, and the learnings I had. I found this really helpful. While it doesn't always have to be completely structured, I have definitely had meetings where I haven't prepared so well, and this has resulted in the sessions not being as valuable."