The Executive Mentor - and you as the Mentee
At all times a mentor must listen with intent to understand rather than respond. By this we mean that a mentor often undertakes the role of a sounding board. A mentor can’t be an effective sounding board if they are doing all the talking! Taking time to listen and then determining how to assist you is a vital quality and skill.
You should also be steered towards conclusions and decisions, without necessarily being given the answers – people are able to work through the issues themselves and find out what suits them - with guidance and facilitation. Mentors should actually guide, encourage and understand where you, the mentee, is at. It’s all about ownership and empowerment for the outcome as much as the added value in the partnership. Also the mentor should always be there for you – one-one, phone and email - as and when required.
These days the relationship should also assist in terms of understanding people. You get a lot of talk about Generations X and Y versus the Baby Boomers. Sometimes it’s a very difficult proposition to understand someone who appears so different to you. Being in a mentoring situation requires the mentor - and you - to withhold any judgement and really hear another point of view. It can increase your own skills of relating to people - as well as their's.
However like any other program or initiative, mentoring programs need milestones, goals and some form of measurement – including that all important human feeling of well being. So when beginning the journey and developing the strategies always include those all important targeted outcomes – and review/monitor progress regularly.
We contend that mentoring for successful transition and to get people to where they really want to be has application in all walks of life. This is definitely relevant in large organizations – perhaps even more so for business owners, the career minded and families in business.
Should you wish to explore your situation further, please feel free to contact me directly.