The Win-Win of Mentoring Programs
November 9, 2020
I am a firm believer in mentoring. Done right, it offers a safe place to ask questions, learn, and grow. But mentoring can also be disappointing. A successful mentoring program can yield tremendous results for yourself and your team.
Benefits of mentoring
- Grow your people
- Grow yourself
- Learn from questions, not just from mistakes
- Low-pressure environment
- Always learning
Myths of mentoring
- Myth: mentoring is only for people who are underperforming.
Everyone should have mentor(s) all the time. A mentor is someone who has been where you are. You ask them questions, they provide their insights, you apply what makes sense to you.
- Myth: mentoring is the same as coaching.
Coaching is more structured, defined, and when done right, is handled by someone who is trained and experienced in coaching. Many companies will assign high potential employees with a coach to help them reach the next level in their career. Other companies may assign low performing but high level employees with coaches to try to improve their performance.
- Myth: I do not need a mentor.
Sometimes when I have accepted a mentor, I did not realize I needed one at that time. What I have noticed is that if we have a standing call every month, I have questions come up during each month that I ask for advice and insights on. Sometimes I have a lot of questions, other times, not so much. You know what? That is perfectly okay. Regardless, the time talking with them is important and helpful.
A good mentoring program
I have experienced a few mentoring programs throughout my career. From my experience, the best programs are all structured in a way that sets clear guidelines for both the mentor and mentee.
- How mentors/mentees are matched
Good mentoring programs have a structure for matching mentors and mentees. They may assign based on skills the mentee is seeking to improve, industry or leadership experience, and desired goals. Matching mentees to mentors can help ensure each party is committed and that a relationship can bloom.
- Sharing expectations
The best programs I have participated in also share expectations with each party, such as who reaches out to whom, how often they should meet, what the mentee should have prepared (questions) and how the mentor should treat the mentee (respect, etc).
- Regularly scheduled meetings
Because we often do not realize we are struggling with something, a regularly scheduled meeting helps mentees to keep their minds open to questions they can pose to their mentor. Also, pre-scheduled meetings help to ensure the relationship blossoms.
- Check ins with the program
The host of the mentorship program should check in with both the mentor and mentee from time to time. These check ins ensure the relationship is continuing. The program can also reassign mentees should the relationship not be fruitful. Of course, relationships also continue beyond the program but that is largely due to the strong structure the program creates.
Freedom Makers mentoring program
We launched a mentoring program early in 2020 because we appreciate the value mentoring brings. We are committed to helping military spouses thrive as virtual assistants. We have also found that military spouses want to support and see other military spouses succeed. This was a great launchpad for our program.
We established clear guidelines and expectations for both our mentees and our mentors. Most important, we explained the parameters to when and how they should meet. We do not want the mentee to become a burden on the mentor so setting up established and acceptable means of communication is imperative.
We also incentivized our program through our profile badge program. Clients are able to see who serves as a mentor and who is being mentored. This is important because clients know we are an organization that wants to keep improving. We have a culture of community and growth.
Our mentoring program is a safe place where Freedom Makers can share their struggles and challenges. They might not feel comfortable coming to our internal team, but now they can discuss their issues with someone who may have had those too at one point.
In the end, mentoring is a win-win for everyone. The mentee gains invaluable advice and help in their personal growth journey. The mentor wins because they are able to share what they have learned and can even learn more by assisting our new Freedom Makers with challenges they are facing. And we at Freedom Makers win because our new Freedom Makers have a forum to grow and our clients see our desire to improve.
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