5 Things Every Successful Mentor Should Be Doing
Being a boss will mean many things, and professional mentorship ranks high in a leader’s responsibility towards their employees. A great mentor effectively makes use of their vision, wisdom or experience to guide a newer generation of the workforce through challenges new or old. This positions businesses as desirable places to work, ensuring low turnover rates and better-trained staff in order to bring any thriving business forward.
With the benefits of good mentorship in mind, here are five traits central to any great mentor:
1. Communicate Expectations
It is crucial to set the tone right from the start so that all parties have a clear understanding of their roles and expectations. First and foremost, ensure everyone is well-acquainted with the company’s values and culture so that your staff have an idea of what’s expected and what’s to come. Establish the ways in which you can jump in to help as well, so they know exactly what they’re responsible over. From there on out, create clear and measurable short and long-term goals, and engage in a discussion if need be, on how they might go about accomplishing them. Get these basic matters communicated, and you will avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and problems down the road.
2. Take Time To Understand Your Employees
Given the corporate hierarchy and nature of the work relationship, bosses and employees might find it hard to get close to each other. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. After all, open communication makes for a productive work environment. Instead of simply discussing everyday work matters, consider taking the initiative to know your employees on a deeper level. Any vacation plans this year? Are there any hobbies that you both have in common?
When you become genuinely interested and learn more about them personally, it shows that you care and it makes them more willing to open up and be honest with their feelings. This will help to build trust, strengthen the relationship, and create a positive environment to work in.
3. Ask More Than You Answer
A mentor directly tells a mentee what to do when the mentee faces a problem, but a great mentor probes further and gets the mentee to come up with their own solution.
In an era where we’re constantly bombarded with new information; constant status updates to the latest, breaking news, it is vital to exercise critical thinking and judgment. As a mentor, you should ask thought-provoking questions that will allow your employees to think more and grow as individuals, instead of just feeding them answers.
Remember, a mentor’s role is to guide mentees in the right direction and push them to develop their capabilities further.
4. Be Willing To Share Information
For better or for worse, mentors should be honest when it comes to sharing information if it helps their mentees become more competent. For example, you can give useful feedback that is immediate, private, and specific for the mentees to improve on. You may also suggest ideas that they can try out in future.
More importantly, don’t be afraid to share your mistakes as well! This will only give your mentees new perspective they can think about, learn from, and hopefully not repeat. As an added bonus, sharing these blunders will make you more approachable as a mentor too.
5. Celebrate Their Milestones
It is easy to overlook the hard work of mentees, especially when they are expected to get the job done. Mentors should still acknowledge their achievements, since it would mean a great deal to them, motivating them to start on their next task with confidence and a sense of satisfaction.
Little gestures of appreciation go a long way. A simple compliment in front of the team, or a thoughtful handwritten note might even keep an overwhelmed employee through tough times.
It pays to be a good mentor, one who goes out of their way to groom the business’ future. This way, they will turn out to be valuable employees, capable of contributing to a company’s progress.
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