A How-To Guide to Mentoring

Mentoring, a word often confused with teaching, actually means to walk and guide someone through a path until they feel confident enough to walk it themselves. A mentor, having gone through a similar process, is able to encourage and guide the mentee in the right direction.

The Mentoring Tools aim to achieve the following:

For Mentors to get fully acquainted with various Mentoring processes
To learn and understand in detail, the techniques to practice Mentoring

Who is a Mentor?

Someone who is able to induce confidence, creativity, and inquisitiveness

Someone who not only knows their job well but can clearly explain what they know in detail for others to understand

Someone who is willing to go the extra mile by exhibiting enthusiasm and patience at all time and understands that everyone learns at a different pace

Someone who demonstrates excellent communication skills and body language to ensure the mentees don’t view them as intimidating and are not afraid to ask questions

Someone who is willing to introduce new and unique ideas and nurtures others’ eagerness

Someone who is assertive in giving feedback, negative or positive, while being sensitive to others’ feelings.

Someone who doesn’t feel threatened to share their knowledge and tips & tricks but are willing to be challenged and are accepting of new ideas and concepts

Role of a Mentor

In simple terms, a mentor’s role is to guide, counsel and be a role model. A mentor creates an interactive environment and participates in the learning process. He motivates and encourages the group by citing examples of his own career path and challenging the group in their thought process and encouraging them in their development. A mentor should ensure that every member is fully engaged in the process and is contributing to the discussion

Personality traits of an exceptional Mentor

Good listener

Empathizing

Assertive

Sensitive

Ability to remain self-aware

Creative

Positivity

Honest

Impartial and approachable

Supportive and empowering

Basic Mentoring Skills

Effective body language – Body language plays a crucial role while mentoring. Smiling, making eye-contact and acknowledging the thoughts and responses of the group is extremely important

Sensitivity – A mentor must put the spotlight on how the group members are feeling every now and again. It’ll be a waste to move on with the process without checking the understanding of the group. A mentor has to understand that a few members may be hesitant to say that they didn’t catch something.

Individual Attention & Recognition – Address the members by their name. Be polite and appreciate wherever necessary. This helps break the mentor-mentee barrier and promotes a happier learning environment.

Delegate Mentorship – Create a system where all the members get the opportunity to head

Ground Rules for Mentoring: