5 tips for being an effective mentor

Mentoring a fellow coach can be extremely rewarding.

However, to do it properly, you must give it careful consideration. The following points should help you to do so...

01 - Let the mentee lead

The mentee needs to have a clear understanding of what they want from the mentorship.

Help them work this out by discussing with them what they want and what they need from someone to get it. Ask: Am I the right person? Is this the right time for you? If the stars align, ask what you can do to help them.

Listen to the way they want to be mentored. Be prepared to adapt the way you mentor to suit them.

From there, let them lead. Ask them to set expectations and support you to understand what will work best for them. You must both put in as much effort as each other.

02 - Have an end in mind - but you may not agree

Not all will agree with the results during or after the mentoring. You must think about how you are going to adapt to that.

In some cases, it might be better to just end it and send them to a new mentor. Change isn’t always easy. People will always have their own opinions.

You need a clear pathway of working with mentees that has to be agreed by both parties. If you do get to a point where the mentees get stuck, dig further and ask them deeper questions. 

A good way to start this is to find out what they have done before. Look into their past work to find out about the positive things that they have done.

03 - Set boundaries

Never promise anything to the mentee. You are going to walk side by side and offer guidance to them, but they need to know when you are not available.

You also need time to do research. You want them to ask lots of questions but sometimes you won’t be able to answer them there and then.

If you are mentoring someone under 18, you will need more formal boundaries, with parents involved. 

04 - Consider what your meetings will look like

It is best to meet the mentee away from the workplace or home. Ask them where they want to meet and why they have chosen this location - it helps decide whether it will be somewhere to meet in the future.

I tend to speak to people roughly once a month or every two weeks, depending on the mentee relationship. I just offer suggestions and let them talk at me.

Allow them to ask questions. You need to facilitate and then just listen. Only enter the conversation when you feel you can create an action plan, and follow up from there.

Take feedback from the mentee. What you have suggested may or may not work with that person.

You can do the meeting remotely or face-to-face but be very clear on a focus and make sure it stays within the boundaries set by you and the mentee.

In every meeting, ensure you are always driving the person forward positively. Try to avoid negatives. I call them underdeveloped strengths instead of weaknesses.

We need to empower the mentee to take their learning forward and, as I said before, allow that journey to be owned by them so they can take it forward as they are learning.

05 - CLOSE THE LOOPS

I have mentored lots of players. Some have gone on to national level, some grassroots. I keep in touch, following up on what they learned with me before.

But, if they have reached their goals, you need to ask different questions. Do they want to move on to something else? How do we bring it to a close?