By Gavin Aleogho
TIPS ON BEING AN IDEAL MENTEE (PROTÉGÉ)
1. Value your mentor’s time.
2. Book appointment to see your mentor
3. Ensure you keep every booked appointment with your mentor.
4. Call to apologize before time if you can’t keep an appointment.
5. Never be late in keeping appointment.
6. Never appear before your mentor without prior appointment except he or she is okay with it.
7. Let your mentor always decide when you can have an appointment with him or her.
8. Come prepared, ask necessary questions. Be open and sincere in your conversation.
9. Learn to manage your mentor’s time to cover all issues you wish to be discussed.
10. Be sensitive to your mentor’s need and environment. Cut meeting short if the occasion or environment is not suitable.
11. Re-scheduling of meeting can be requested by you if need be.
12. Never interrupt your mentors except if it’s crucial but it should be with permission.
13. Take notes even in his or her presence. It shows how valuable his or her counsel is to you.
14. Be responsible. Take the action point you ought to take.
15. Be accountable. Give situational report.
16. Maintain good contact with your mentor.
YOUR ROLE AS A MENTEE
1. Maintain Contact
2. Communicate your need
3. Be opened
4. Accept criticism
5. Be organized
6. Use mentor’s time effectively
7. Be responsive to advice
8. Be honest about progress
9. Take responsibility
MENTORSHIP
QUALITIES OF A GOOD MENTOR
HOW TO BECOME A GOOD MENTOR
By Gavin Aleogho
QUALITIES OF A GOOD MENTOR
1. Willingness to share their wisdom, knowledge, skills and expertise.
2. They are willing to help you through tough times.
3. They help you in making quality decision.
4. They are genuinely concerned about your success.
5. They expect the best of you.
6. They never give up on you or let you give up on yourself.
7. They willing to listen and learn from you.
8. They are able to appreciate you for your achievement.
9. They correct you when you’re missing the track, even when it hurts.
10. They push you beyond your limit.
11. They make you believe in yourself by raising your sense of purpose and self-esteem.
12. They help you discover your hidden skills and talent.
13. They are more experienced than you in many ways.
HOW TO BECOME A GOOD MENTOR
1. Be a person of credibility and dependability.
2. Respect your mentee and his/her their privacy.
3. Be a positive role model.
4. Be genuinely interested in people, more especially to your mentee as an individual.
5. Be accessible.
6. Be open in sharing your experiences.
7. With love, rebuke and correct where necessary.
8. Ask a lot of questions.
9. Acknowledge and appreciates achievements.
MENTORSHIP
TIPS ON BEING AN IDEAL MENTEE (PROTÉGÉ)
YOUR ROLE AS A MENTEE
By Gavin Aleogho
One of the undoing of our generation is the absence and ignorance of mentorship relationship. We have a lot of people especially the younger generation, who think they are self-sufficient in themselves to achieve their dreams, without the help of an experienced person.
You will only be restraining yourself when you think you can play the lone ranger game in your journey to success. The knowledge and experiences you think you have is limited. And the path to achieving that dream of yours is pretty new to you. But when you take advantage of the expertise of someone who has walked that path before you, it will save you a lot of troubles. That is where mentoring comes in.
Mentoring refers to a personal developmental relationship that exists between a more experienced or knowledgeable person and a less experienced or knowledgeable person with the aim of helping the less experienced person. It’s a relationship that aims at sharing knowledge, giving guardians and professional counsel to a mentee who is the less experienced or knowledgeable person in the relationship. The more experienced or knowledgeable person is referred to as the mentor.
Who is a mentor?
A mentor is a wise and trusted counsellor, who possesses a certain level of knowledge, wisdom and experience which can be used to help his protégé (mentee) to attain a higher level of success or development.
Mentorship is not necessary a relationship between a perfect person and an imperfect person. Neither does it have anything to do with age, sex or one’s status in life; although, some of these factors may be considered in discussing some issues. What is more important is for the mentor to have higher level of expertise in the area he or she is to play the role of a mentor. And a mentor doesn’t need to have “all” experiences or “all” the knowledge of life.
I’ve been a beneficiary of mentorship. In fact, if not for my mentors whom God have positioned in the path of my life’s journey; I would not have been where I am today. Even if I would have been, I would have had a lot of bruises and scars from life’s challenges. I would have made a lot of errors and mistakes in life.
A mentor is not a perfect person per se, but one that has experienced successes as well as failures in life. He or she is someone who must have overcome various challenges in life and is ready to help others to learn, grow and avoid the mistakes and errors in life.
A mentor helps the mentee to learn and grow by sharing knowledge and wisdom. A mentor helps with his or her wealth of experiences which will help the mentee in avoiding the consequences of gaining the experience first-hand.
Mentoring is beyond just giving advice. It is a responsibility that requires commitment of valuable time and attention on the two parties involved irrespective of distance. Good mentoring relationship can be highly rewarding, not only to the mentee but also to the mentor.
Mentorship must not be face-to-face. With the advent of communication technology and the internet, mentoring is made much easier. You can have mentors who are not necessary in the same location with you. The most important ingredient in the relationship is proper and continuous communication with your mentor.
How can i get a mentor?
Most people really want to have a mentor, but they don’t know how to go about it. Personally, I have been privileged to have people who volunteer to mentor me in some aspects of my life. Some did it directly while others did it indirectly by just making themselves available for me to access for counselling and advice.
When it comes to getting a mentor, on most occasions, you will need to go and ask to be mentored. It may not be a direct request like saying “I want you to please be my mentor”. But it can be an indirect request like asking someone (mentor) to help you see to the success of achieving a particular dream or goal without even making mention of the word mentor or mentee.
The effective mentor and mentee relationship
To have an effective mentor/mentee relationship, there must be an agreed upon goals, open communication and a way of evaluating the outcome of the relationship.
Tips for choosing a mentor
1. Choose one that has a similar goal with yours.
2. Check for approachability and availability for the relationship
3. You can initiate the mentor/mentee relationship
4. Go for one that is genuinely interested in your progress.
5. Go for one that has more experience than you.
6. Find someone that you admire and respect, whom you are willing to learn from.
7. Decide what you really want from the relationship beforehand.
TIPS ON BEING AN IDEAL MENTEE (PROTÉGÉ)
YOUR ROLE AS A MENTEE
QUALITIES OF A GOOD MENTOR
HOW TO BECOME A GOOD MENTOR
