A Comprehensive Guide to Mentorship

Building a meaningful mentor-mentee relationship is the most basic foundation of a successful mentorship experience. I have been on both sides (in my limited capacities). So I have created this guide based on the perspectives of both the mentee and a mentor.?

I will first take you through your role as a mentee.?

Setting well-defined goals for yourself: As a mentee, you are expected to be very clear about your goals and what you expect from the mentorship. First, define for yourself as to what are the areas in which you need mentorship and why you need it. You can use a checklist to do the same.?

Here’s an example of how I had prepared my checklist when I wanted to reach out to people for support and guidance:?

1. What am I looking for in my mentors?
2. Do I want only my doubts and queries regarding career/higher education to be answered or do I want them to help me in upskilling?
3. If I want them to help me in upskilling, what skill(s) do I want my mentors to teach me?
4. Do I want to seek multiple mentors for multiple aspects or do I want a single mentor for my topmost priority?
5. Am I willing to pay for any mentoring programs or am I seeking only volunteer mentors?
6. Am I looking only for senior industry leaders/mid-level experts or am I okay with peer learning mentors?

Setting a timeline for yourself: Once you have defined your goals, the next step is to set a timeline for yourself as to the period for which you need the mentorship. For instance, in some cases, the mentorship is time-sensitive, especially for application and higher education-related mentorships. In such cases, you need to define the period for which you are seeking mentors and be specific with the period when you are reaching out to potential mentors.?

Reaching out to potential mentors: Now that you have defined your goals and timelines, reaching out to potential mentors based on shared interests is your next step. While doing cold outreach and reaching out to multiple mentors is one of the easiest and sure-shot ways to go about it, it is also important to keep in mind to do your research and not reach out to anyone and everyone. Look for potential mentors based on your priority. If you are upskilling in a certain aspect, say for instance, communications, then look for mentors who specialize in communications and then tailor your email or LinkedIn message accordingly to show that you deeply care about the mentorship they can offer and how much it matters to you. Create a template for cold outreach and then customize it as per your needs for every potential mentor that you email.?

P.S: Do not copy and paste the same messages or email texts and send the same to everyone. Your potential mentors are more connected to each other than you think. :)?

Prioritize your needs: One mentor cannot always answer all your questions or address all the aspects of your mentoring needs. So it is very natural to seek out multiple mentors, however, it is also essential to balance our needs and not unnecessarily keep our mentors hanging when we cannot manage having multiple mentors. We do not want to make anyone feel like their time doesn’t matter, right? :)?

Hence, it is crucial to prioritize our needs when seeking mentorship from multiple mentors. Prioritise mentorship needs depending on what is it that you want the most and then connect with mentors as per shared interests.

For instance, if higher education is your immediate priority then find mentors who can support you in your applications and accordingly keep that as your top priority. If your next priority is to upskill then look at mentors who would support you in that. Prioritizing your goals when you desire to have multiple mentors is essential. The best way to do this is to make a written checklist for yourself as to what you expect and list down each and everything you want from the mentors.

Be mindful of your mentors’ time: When scheduling calls/meet-ups with your mentors, it is important to be mindful of each others’ time and have a transparent discussion with your mentor about how frequently will you meet and what will be your mode of communication.??

Lastly, a friendly advice!

Never shy away from asking any questions. No question is stupid or useless. Your mentors will be more than happy to answer anything and everything but if you do not ask, your mentors will not know what is it that you want or have doubts about.?

Now, let’s look at what your role is as a mentor!

Being clear and transparent about your capacities: When someone reaches out to us, it is important to be clear about what we can offer them as mentors and be transparent about our capacities to avoid overcommitments as well as not giving false hopes to the mentees.?

Remember, there’s no shame in saying that you don’t know something and only providing information about the aspects you are fully aware of. After all, as mentors, you are also learning and growing. :D

Setting clear expectations and communication: As a mentor, the first and foremost thing to do when someone reaches out to you for mentorship is to establish clear expectations in terms of what they should expect from the mentorship, how frequently you will be available, and how you can support them. Communicating when you are available/not available is also extremely vital. It is important to be respectful of your mentees’ time and needs as well.?

After all, the essence of true mentorship lies in clear communication and being respectful of each other’s time rather than taking advantage of the power imbalances that might sometimes creep in due to hierarchies.?

Putting your mentees in touch with the right people: As I mentioned earlier, not everyone will know everything so sometimes when mentees come with queries you might not have answers for, it is important that you put them in touch with the right people who can guide them and address their specific queries. As a mentor, your role is not just supporting your mentees individually but also creating an ecosystem for them where they can have multiple support systems whenever they require.?

Making a safe space and building trust: I will be brutally honest: Keep your hierarchy and sense of seniority aside when mentoring someone. Be empathetic and create that space for your mentees when they seek your support. If you cannot build that trust and a safe and inclusive space for them, you cannot be a mentor in the truest sense. A mentorship experience is not just limited to career advice, it is a very holistic approach to supporting an individual in their journey of building themselves.?

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Here are some mentoring programs/communities to consider if you are looking for mentors/willing to be a mentor:

The Policy Square

Women in Econ/Policy

Project EduAccess

If you feel that I can extend any support to you in any form for anything and everything related to Public Policy, Economics, Gender, and Poetry (yes, I am an avid poetry lover), don't hesitate to reach out to me, be it in my DMs or over email ([email protected]).