Tips for Being a Great Mentor

• Mentoring is about establishing a partnership that helps your protégé learn. It is not about your being an expert or the authority.

• Great mentors foster discovery, they don’t instruct; thought-provoking questions are much more powerful than smart answers.

• Your protégé will learn more if you create a relationship that is safe and comfortable. Be authentic, open, and sincere.

• Your rank or position is your greatest liability—act more like a friend than a boss.

• Great listening comes from genuine curiosity and obvious attentiveness.

• Give feedback with a strong focus on the future, not a heavy rehash of the past.

• Mentoring is not just about what you say in a mentoring session; it is also about how you support your protégé after the session. Focus on helping your protégé transfer learning back to the workplace.

• If your mentoring relationship is not working like you hoped it would, clearly communicate your concerns to your protégé.

• Mentoring relationships are designed to be temporary. When your protégé has met his or her mentoring goals, be willing to let the relationship end.