What To Look For in a Mentor

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To form mentoring partnerships that have the greatest chance of being effective, both participants need:

Desire – a genuine wish to be involved in mentoring

Good will – entering the relationship with good intentions

Rapport – the ability to relate to one another

Communication skills – attending, listening, questioning, feedback and appropriate self-disclosure

Time – the ability to agree, commit and schedule reasonable availability

This is more easily achieved if you call for volunteers in your program and use selection criteria to choose the people who have the most likelihood of success.

What participants want from mentors is the ability to:

• Actively listen
• Be a sounding board
• Ask challenging questions
• Provide constructive feedback
• Be accessible and approachable
• Discuss options
• Refer them to resources
• Collaborate in problem solving
• Facilitate decision-making
• Share experience
• Give advice, but not to quickly!

Mentorees need certain qualities too, they should be able to:

• Take the initiative
• Ask questions
• Discuss ideas and issues
• Listen
• Consider new ideas
• Set goals
• Plan actions
• Follow through
• Use resources
• Take responsibility

Matching

To match the needs of the mentoree with an appropriate mentor, consider:

• The specific experience or expertise of the mentor – they do not have to be from the same field!
• The mentor’s position – they should not be in a direct line of authority. Someone outside of the immediate work area is an advantage;
• Accessibility – are they nearby or at a remote location?
• Ability – are they capable of taking on the mentoring role?
• Are they a role model of appropriate values?
• Do they have a broad knowledge of the organization?