How can you ensure your mentee takes ownership of conflict resolution?

1 Assess the situation

Before you intervene in a conflict involving your mentee, try to understand the nature and severity of the issue, and the role and perspective of your mentee. Is it a minor misunderstanding, a personality clash, a performance gap, or a serious ethical violation? How does your mentee feel about the conflict, and what are their goals and expectations? How do they view the other party or parties involved, and what are their interests and needs? Asking open-ended questions and listening actively can help you assess the situation and identify the root causes of the conflict.

3 Support your mentee

Empowering your mentee does not mean abandoning them or leaving them to fend for themselves. You can still provide support and guidance throughout the conflict resolution process, by checking in regularly, acknowledging their progress, celebrating their achievements, and addressing their challenges. You can also act as a mediator, facilitator, or advocate for your mentee, if needed, but only with their consent and involvement. You can also help your mentee learn from the conflict resolution experience, by debriefing with them, sharing your insights, and identifying areas for improvement.

5 Model the behavior

One of the best ways to help your mentee take ownership of conflict resolution is to model the behavior yourself. You can demonstrate how you handle conflicts in your own work environment, how you communicate with others, how you cope with emotions, and how you learn from feedback. You can also share your stories and examples of successful or unsuccessful conflict resolution, and what you learned from them. By showing your mentee how you practice what you preach, you can inspire them to follow your example and develop their own conflict resolution style.

6 Challenge your mentee

Finally, you can help your mentee take ownership of conflict resolution by challenging them to step out of their comfort zone and try new approaches. You can set realistic and specific goals for your mentee, and monitor their progress and performance. You can also provide constructive and honest feedback, and help your mentee overcome their fears and doubts. You can also expose your mentee to different perspectives and situations, and help them adapt to changing circumstances. By challenging your mentee, you can help them grow and develop as a professional and a leader.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?