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"Tips for Mentees: Step Up – It’s Your Gig!"
- Clarify your goals: explain to your mentor what you want from your career, and from mentoring.
- Come prepared: set up an agenda ahead of meetings and give your mentor enough time in advance to review any materials.
- Remember, it’s your responsibility to keep the relationship going: you don’t want your mentor saying, “I haven’t heard from you”.
- Respect your mentor’s boundaries: create upfront agreements about what to do if time-sensitive issues arise outside your organised meetings.
- Take action between sessions: be willing to try new things and to respond to suggestions. However, always filter any advice through your own instincts, as you are ultimately responsible for your own actions.
- Be grateful: express your appreciation and tell your mentor what a difference it is making to you. Ask if there is any way you can help your mentor.
Selection from "How to make mentoring work and why your workplace will benefit" by Thea O'Connor on InTheBlack.
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Think for Yourself
Everybody is different, so not all advice your mentor gives will work for you. Try taking some time to experiment and discover what works best for you. Then you can try teaching it back to your mentor!
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Create a Mentoring Network
Sometimes you can't always be there in person, or sometimes you get overloaded and can't always help your mentee immediately. When mentoring, you can prepare for this by gathering a list of alterative resources and mentors. Find someone to be there for your mentee when you can't.
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Build Every Step
Don't rush to get through mentoring. Build every part of the skills learned and take time to rehash things. Build strong parts not a weak whole, as our friends at TalentMgt.com would say.
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Teach Don't Do.
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Patience is Key
Take time to get to the point when mentoring. Make sure your mentee is ready for the information you want to give. Mentoring is not a race to the finish line.