Mentee Self-Assessment to help you gain clarity

Here are some ideas about mentoring to support and challenge you as you begin your mentee journey.

Purpose of Mentoring

Mentoring is a developmental dialogue between two people. It is a process of ongoing support and development, which can tackle issues and problems identified by the mentee. Having a mentor or mentors can be one of the most powerful developmental relationships a person will ever experience. Anybody at any stage of their life or career can benefit from having a mentor, whether it is deep personalised learning with someone with substantially more experience or having a sounding board with a peer, or working with a younger or more junior person in a reverse mentoring situation to support in finding out a different perspective on life. Often individuals can benefit from having more than one mentor in their life if they are going through a period of intense change. Mentoring taps into a basic instinct most people share – the desire to pass on their learning or to support development and help another person fulfil their potential.

Mentoring is a confidential, offline (not with your line manager) partnership between two people based on understanding and trust. Its chief aim is to build on self-reliance and self-confidence in the mentee. It is a positive, developmental relationship, which is driven primarily by the mentee.

What do I want to achieve from a mentoring relationship as a mentee?

• I want to progress my career, but I’m not sure how?
• How can I be more effective in my role?
• How can I work through the challenges faced in my role?
• How can I develop into a leadership role?
• How can I develop my skills in for example, developing others, thinking more creatively, making decisions?
• How can I be more influential?
• How can I develop my confidence/self-belief?

Are any of these questions applicable to you?

What am I looking for in a mentor?

Depending on your questions you may be looking for a person who:

• has specific experience or knowledge
• understands your world
• offers a different perspective
• is a trusted role model
• offers an independent sounding board
• is geographically close
• is able to challenge your thinking

Which of these points are most appropriate?  It may be useful to raise these answers in discussion with your mentor.

What should you expect of your mentor?

In effective developmental mentoring relationships, the mentee should expect:

• Empathy – while the mentor may not have experienced exactly the issues that you face, he or she should demonstrate an interest in you and your development and a willingness to understand things from your point of view
• Constructive challenge/ stretching – your mentor will, when appropriate, push you to think deeper, address uncomfortable issues and set higher ambitions for yourself.
• Sharing experience – your mentor should use his or her own experience to provide guidance and advice; equally, however, they will be conscious that what was right for them, may not be the best solution for you. Holding back on talking about their experience is something many mentors find difficult, but they should be aware that the important outcome is that you should find a route forward that you feel comfortable with.
• Confidentiality – what is said between mentor and mentee is fully confidential.
• Professional Friendship – your mentor doesn’t have to be your greatest friend ever. But they do need to offer you respect, trust and a degree of liking. It’s hard to be fully open with someone you don’t feel comfortable with
• Help in understanding how the organisation works – your mentor’s greater experience and knowledge of people in the organisation can be critical in helping you achieve your personal goals
• Sounding board – whenever you need to make a difficult decision, or rehearse a difficult conversation, your mentor can help you think it through
• Listening – sometimes mentors help just by being there, when you need someone to talk to, who isn’t directly involved in the issue.

So use these points to reflect on what you want to get out of your mentoring relationship and ensure you discuss this with your mentor.