Becoming an Amazing Mentor
Jeff Kikel
I have recently found myself being a mentor for
two young entrepreneurs. I am currently mentoring these two young
gentlemen, each with different goals and challenges. My first mentee
is 19 years old. He is in ACC right now, but is planning on attending
University of North Texas in the Fall. He is energetic, has big ideas
and a desire to help people and be a role model in the African American
community. My second mentee came to me after I volunteered to be a
mentor for a friend’s youth based Entrepreneurship program. This young
gentleman is a bundle of energy and ideas. His main challenge is
focusing on one project at a time (which is a problem that I share with
him). Oh and by the way, he is 9.
So what will it take to be a successful mentor?
- Set expectations from the very beginning:
Part
of my first meeting with both Mentees was to establish our relationship
from the beginning. I spent time understanding their goals, time
frames and current challenges. We set clear goals for what each wanted
to accomplish and how each would like me to help them along the way.
- Know when to wait before giving advice: This one is difficult. Quite often we just want to answer the questions for our mentees. This is the worst thing you can do. It is important for mentees to discover answers for themselves. A great mentor guides the discussion and leads their mentee to self-discovery.
- Don’t assume anything about your mentee: This one almost caused me to back out of my mentorship relationship with my 9 year old “Mini Me”. When I was asked to work with him all I could thing was, “Great! I now have to babysit a 9 year old, what am I going to be able to teach him?”. To my great surprise, he showed up at our first mentorship meeting with detailed notes on the projects he wanted to work on. He had 5-7 different ideas that we discussed and through careful guidance, he decided to focus on starting a YouTube show demonstrating science projects.
- Encourage Accountability: At our first meeting we set up accountability rules that each of my mentees would follow. I typically meet with my mentees every other week. I asked each of them after our meeting to send me a follow up email with what they would accomplish over the next two weeks. They both also agree to send weekly updates. If they do not follow up with me, I make sure to email them for an update to let them know I am interested and that they are not meeting their obligations.
- Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes: Most people junior to you will not want to admit mistakes in front of you as a sign of weakness. Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes you have made directly to them. The first time I was supposed to meet with my 9-year-old mentee, I double booked a meeting and missed our meeting. I used this as a teachable moment (after profusely apologizing for my error).
​Being a mentor is work. You cannot simply go into a mentor relationship to check a box that you did it. You are shaping and helping someone’s life. Take the time to go through the above steps. Become part of their lives, ensure that both of you are accountable and let them discover their own way with your guidance.
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