Establishing a successful mentoring relationship
It’s been exactly one month since we launched the BOHS mentoring program, so far we have over 15 professional relationships. We encourage as many people to sign up to the program as possible as there are many benefits to being a mentor or a mentee.
Check out tips for establishing a successful relationship with a mentor below:
Once you have been matched with your mentor it is imperative for the success of the professional relationship that you establish a plan in order to keep on track with your mentoring goals, we suggest that you:
- Draw up a timetable of regularly spaced meetings in advance
- Establish a set of ground rules to which you will both abide.
- Keep notes of your meetings and use these as the basis for ongoing discussion.
- Work towards developing a trusting relationship and establishing a good rapport with your mentor.
- Aim at maintaining the relationship for as long as is appropriate to your needs.
Effective mentoring meetings provide a sense of purpose and achievement
The Mentee’s Role
An ideal mentee should:
- Own and take responsibility for discussion content – don’t expect the mentor to solve your problems or provide quick fixes. Remain aware that the purpose of mentoring is to work on your professional development.
- Be open to developing your self-awareness and to making changes.
- Be open to what the mentor has to say and to their advice; this doesn’t mean you have to agree with it. It does mean you should receive it, reflect upon it and decide later whether you agree and whether to act on it.
- Reflect between sessions on what has been discussed
If you think you could benefit from a mentor why not take a look at our mentoring program bohs.link/mentoring-program
The Mentor’s Role
The traditional view of a mentor is someone who shares experience and imparts knowledge. In contemporary mentoring, a mentor does a lot more listening than talking. A mentor’s role isn’t to tell a mentee what to do, it is to act as a guide. A mentor asks questions and draws out the mentee’s own thoughts before offering advice and providing additional options. A mentor also challenges, offers a different perspective, another point of view and provides support.
If you haven’t already, start your mentoring journey now. Click below to create your profile.