Mentoring: What Makes a Good Mentor?

Networking can be a fantastic way to connect with people and find informal (and sometimes more formal) mentors. So what makes a good mentor?

A good mentor will do the following:

1. Connect through effective (active) listening
2. Build a relationship of engagement and trust
3. Maintain an effective focus
4. Help overcome barriers to progress
5. Help someone grow

So whether you are looking for your own potential mentor (or thinking about being a mentor for someone else) it is important to bear these things in mind.

Connect through effective (active) listening

Active listening can make you better at communicating and help makes sure the other person feels heard and understood (and consequently build your relationship with them). It also helps you to understand people better. A good mentor will use active listening to learn more about their mentees motivations and what makes them tick and to see things from their perspective.

Further Reading: Why is Active Listening So Important and how to be better?

Build a Relationship of Engagement & Trust

Trust is a fundamental part of the foundation of any mentoring relationship. However, it cannot be forced and is really only achieved over time which is why it is important to engage and invest in your mentoring relationship as you would with a networking relationship to allow the trust to build and strengthen. A good mentor will be honest and transparent and share their professional (and personal) perspective.

Maintain an Effective Focus

Time is a precious resource. Both mentor and mentee should respect each others time and work together in an effective manner to make the best use of the time available. A good mentor will use the time available in a systematic and focussed way and will dedicate their time to their mentee by focusing on progress and results.

Help overcome barriers to progress

A good mentor will help a mentee overcome any barriers before them. This might be by offering a different perspective or sharing their personal journey. This might be by doing something more active such as making an introduction or helping them with a particular task or skillset.

Help Someone Grow

Finally, a good mentor will help their mentee grow and develop as a person through genuinely taking an interest and helping them out.

Further Reading:

• Mentoring: An Introduction
• How Do I Find a Good Mentor?
• Mentoring: Getting to know your Mentor
• Mentoring: Use your network to build a network of mentors