Branding My Week with Mentorship, Part Two: Being a Mentor

If you know anything about me, you know that one of my most important values is the importance of giving back. Whoopi Goldberg has said, “We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” For that reason, I believe that we need to generously look for ways to not only find mentors for ourselves, but to also be the mentor that someone else needs in the dark.

When I get asked to be a mentor, I take it really seriously. I don’t say yes to everyone because I’m really busy, and I believe that being a mentor is a commitment not to be entered into lightly. Synonyms for mentor, for instance, include “adviser, coach, guide, and counsellor.” If I’m going to agree to serve as your guide and adviser, I want to be sure that I have the time to dedicate to it and that we’ll be a good mentor-mentee fit.

To me, being a good mentor is having some sort of structured engagement. With my mentees, that tends to look like regularly scheduled calls to check in. When you’re starting out with a new mentee, it’s always useful to decide upfront what your time commitment will look like and get on the same page about what your mentee specifically wants your help with to avoid miscommunication or hurt feelings later.

When people approach me to be their mentor, I find it really helpful when they have a specific ask; when they lead with one small task they could use my help with or a question that I can answer for them. Starting off with a specific ask serves as a good gauge as to whether we’ll work well together on the bigger topics that come later.

A couple of things that make me wary about potential mentees: when people ask me to do their own job for them, or send an extremely long message asking something difficult, if not impossible, for me to answer like the trajectory of next 10 years of their life. Make your first ask small and something we can accomplish quickly together.

Fun fact that I found fascinating: did you know that the word mentor comes has its origins in the 18th century, when it was derived from the Greek Mentor, a character from The Odyssey who was of one of Odysseus’ friends and an advisor to his son Telemachus?

How have you given back as a mentor for those who would benefit from your guidance?