The Mentoring Process

The role of the mentor is to build rapport, ask questions, listen and elicit the mentoree's own wisdom. The mentor does not have to be older, wiser or have specialised knowledge in any field. They need to be skilled in leading a mentoring conversation.

The mentoring conversation invites the mentoree to reflect on their own experience with a situation, issue or problem, then gather information from a variety of sources (perhaps including the mentor), sort through options and decide on a course action, plan and implement it. Reviewing the results continues the learning cycle.

When mentoring is approached in this way, it is the mentor’s questioning skills that extend and enhance the mentoree’s thinking processes. The mentoree does not become dependent; they develop independent critical thinking. The mentoree is empowered, having come up with his or her own answers. They also take responsibility for their actions. Having explored possible consequences of actions, they are less vulnerable.