• 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.