MENTOR& MENTEE RESOURCES
To use these resources, highlight the text you want, then simply copy and paste to your document
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MENTORING AND COACHING?
A Mentor works with you:
• In long term development
• In partnership
• Asking questions to cause you to reflect
• In a less structured way
• By sharing their experience
• To provide support and guidance.
A Coach works with you:
• To achieve short term results
• To complete various tasks
• In a more top down approach
• In a more structured way
• They may have no experience in your area of expertise.
• To provide support and guidance.
​
WHAT MAKES A GOOD LIFE MENTOR?
Good life mentors do not take their responsibility as a mentor lightly. They feel invested in the success of the mentee. Usually, this requires someone who is knowledgeable, compassionate, and possesses the attributes of a good teacher.
Excellent communication skills are also required.
A good life mentor is committed to helping their mentees find success and gratification in their life. Overall good mentoring requires empowering the mentee to develop their own strengths, beliefs, and personal attributes.
A good life mentor exhibits the personal attributes it takes to be successful (however they define it) in their in life. By showing the mentee what it takes to be productive and successful, they are demonstrating the specific behaviors and actions required to succeed in life.
A FEW BENEFITS OF HAVING A LIFE MENTOR
1 – Having a life mentor enables you to acquire the right frame of mind and confidence you need to succeed. These are two fundamental keys to a good life.
2 – Having a life mentor helps you take action and make the right decisions about your life. You navigate much better through obstacles if you rely on the advice of a mentor who has gone through it before you.
3 – The life mentor is an ally who opens doors that take you directly to the essentials. You save energy and precious time.
4 – Having a life mentor helps you maintain your motivation. They will inspire and motivate you. You also benefit from their constructive and valuable ideas. A life mentor can offer independent feedback on your performance.
5 – By taking a mentor, you greatly reduce the time of your learning. Since you benefit from their experience, it lessens your reliance on your own trials and errors.
WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD LIFE MENTOR?
​
-
Willingness to share skills, knowledge and expertise
-
Demonstrates a positive attitude and acts as a positive role model
-
Takes a personal interest in the mentoring relationship
-
Exhibits enthusiasm for life
-
Values ongoing learning and growth
-
Provides guidance and constructive feedback
-
Continues development of their own life.
5 REASONS TAKING ACTION IS CRUCIAL IN ACHIEVING SUCCESS.
1 Actions activate/embed learning.
Learning about something is important to understanding. Only by doing do you embed the learning. Actions transform learning into results. The fun part of life is the doing!
2 Only by taking action do you know what works.
To make changes you take action. Action leads to success and failure. Eliminate what doesn't work. Focus energy and time on those that do. Success is built on failure.
3 Actions create habits which lead to success.
Change and success (however you define it) is an ongoing process. One action, one attempt is the start not the end. Taking new action is hard but if you never start, it won't be repeated until it becomes a habit.
4 Actions substantiate your sense of accomplishment.
The actions you take every day show how far you are on your journey. Doing the right thing every day makes you feel good about yourself.
5 Time will pass no matter what you do.
Your life is not endless. Your time is one the most important things in your life. Start taking action towards what you really want out of life today.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE FIRST MENTORING MEETING
​
The first meeting is vital because it sets the tone of the relationship which will, ideally, get off to a swift and productive start.
So, start right:
-
Make yourselves comfortable, grab a tea or coffee and sit down and get to know each other.
-
Tell each other something about yourselves, this could include information about both your professional and your personal life. Whatever feels right.
-
As a mentor, explain why you got involved in mentoring, what you think you might be doing and what you both might get out of it.
During the first meeting.
The first meeting is all about getting the relationship off to a good start by establishing some ground rules and acknowledging that the relationship is two-way. It's also the best time to agree what you hope to achieve and share your expectations of one another. You will need to mention confidentiality, responsibility, when you would like to meet and for how long, how you’ll keep in touch to arrange other meetings and the best way to remind each other of your meeting.
Things to cover include:
-
Your mentee's ambitions and goals in relation to:
-
particular issues being faced
-
achievements so far and how to build on them
-
realistic expectations
-
scale of priorities
-
areas on which your mentee would find input most useful
And a few basic essentials:
-
frequency of meetings
-
venue for follow up meetings
-
decision about email and/or telephone contact
-
confidentiality
-
how you will track progress and issues/targets for further development
MENTORING GROUP
If you have a interest in mentoring, visit the new GROUP FOR PROMOTING & FOSTERING MENTORING WORLDWIDE by clicking on this link https://www.facebook.com/groups/2302325910089182/ Take the step, join the group and then contribute.
WHAT ARE 3 REASONS PEOPLE NEED A LIFE MENTOR?
1. A Life Mentor is a Wonderful Anxiety Antidote
The best mentor is the man or woman who really has “been there” in life, he or she can empathize with your pain, anxiety, or sense of defeat, like no one else.
2. Life Mentors Are Inspiring.
Your mentor has been there. You and your mentor work together to build mutual respect. The mentor will invest in you and you will invest in the relationship.
3. Life Mentors Know What It Takes To Succeed In Life
Being successful in life, however you define it, is an incredibly complex process, and your business skills may be the least of your worries. A mentor who has been down the road you want to travel can help you to navigate. In every sphere of life it is the “extra issues” that involve life savvy, that determines who achieves their success.
A SHORT GUIDE TO CHOOSING A LIFE MENTOR.
There are three important things to help you choose the Life Mentor or Life Coach that is right for you:
1 - Interview at least three possible Life Mentors or coaches before you make a choice. A professional coach will offer you a complimentary consultation which will give you a feel for them and how they operate. Be sure and prepare a list of questions beforehand to ask each of them.
2 - It is important that what you are searching for and what they offer, match. Ensure that you both want to develop the relationship in the same way. Does the mentor or coach motivate and inspire you?
3 - Trust your instincts. First impressions are generally correct, lead with your intuition.
A QUICK GUIDE TO GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MENTOR:
As with everything in life, though, you get out what you put in.
1. Perspective
During the mentorship process, you set goals for what you want to achieve. Mentoring is a gradual process. Sometimes it becomes a life-long connection. It’s not a fast track to a new job, or a drive-by networking opportunity. You must be willing to make a commitment. The real pay-off comes over years, not weeks. While real progress often happens in months rather than decades, it’s clear that you need to enter the mentoring relationship with the right perspective on the journey you will be taking.
2. Generosity
Look for ways to “pay it forward” to other people and become mentors themselves.
3. Decisiveness
Part of being mentored is receiving advice. But then the important part needs to happen – acting on that advice..
4. Receptiveness
Be willing to accept honest feedback, even if it hurts: “One of the things you need to be able to do is take negative feedback, because we can only learn if we get feedback from other people.
5. Honesty
Be honest about yourself.. For mentoring to work well, you have to ask for help with the things you are not good at, and feedback on the things you already do well
​6. Internal Locus of Control
This is a term from psychology; means that you take responsibility for your situation, and take action in support of your goals. How you respond to outside events is up to you.
​
​
DO I NEED A LIFE MENTOR?
History tells us that us humans do a whole lot better in taking accountability and commitment when there is a coach or mentor working with them.
​
People who have been where we want to be, people who have the same thought processes and values and people that we look up to and aspire to be. The reality is having a mentor will push you beyond your boundaries and often can draw out to exceed what you can achieve when you are on your own.
​
Having a mentor enables you to open your eyes and mind to new ideas and innovative thinking. They help you identify yourself, grab opportunities and become your personal advisory and the best critic.
12 IMPORTANT TIPS FOR A MENTOR
​
1. Approach each mentee differently.
2. Set expectations together in the very beginning.
3. Take a genuine interest in your mentee as a person.
4. Know when to wait before giving advice.
5. Improve your emotional intelligence.
6. Don’t make assumptions about your mentee -- ask.
7. Share your mistakes.
8. Celebrate their achievements.
9. Give more than you ask for.
10. Seek out classes or projects related to skills your mentee wants to develop.
11. Solve for the long-term.
12. Lead by example.
​
​
7 HABITS FOR HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MENTORS
​
1. Be an active listener .
2. Be dedicated to the mentees success.
3. Commit the time, energy and thought required.
4. Stay curious.
5. Actively engage with their uniqueness.
6. Be willing to step out of your comfort zones.
7. Do the 3 r's: responsible, respectful, & ready .
WHAT DO YOU GET FROM A LIFE MENTOR?
​
Some simple things a Life Mentor will freely give to you.
1 A fresh look at the path and goals you have set for yourself.
2 An opening of your eyes and mind to new ideas and innovative thinking.
3 Ideas and suggestions on how to navigate through the obstacles that will find you.
4 Encouragement to achieve your full potential.
5 Their time and experience.
A Life Mentor helps you live your life with purpose. What is your purpose?