I have been engaged in life review lately, reflecting upon lessons learned through mentoring students and more junior colleagues. Mentoring, as you probably know, is the term used to refer to someone who imparts wisdom and shares knowledge to someone less experienced. There are ten lessons learned that I want to share with you about the process:
1. Throwing others to the wolves with a “sink or swim” mentality doesn’t work. We can’t expect people to perform beyond their capabilities.
2. My most successful attempts at mentoring involved asking mentees to “stretch,” but not too far.
3. It is counter-productive to “take over” or do the work others should and could be doing. Mentees discover just how good they are by successful achievements they thought were beyond their reach.
4. Mentees need to believe their mentors are their cheerleaders—I have come to realize being critical is very problematic.
5. Great mentors teach by example—words alone do not suffice.
6. Learning to “listen” is a skill every mentor should master.
7. Mentoring is tricky—one must remain supportive, but not dishonest, in sensitive situations.
8. Mentoring involves genuine and labor-intensive commitment, but it must not be experienced by the mentee as overbearing.
9. When done poorly, mentoring can be agonizing, when done well it is exhilarating.
10. I remain humbled thinking about how challenged I am by it, even after so many years.
I would love to hear your reflections and words of wisdom on this timeless topic.