Most people know that one of the best ways to develop your career is to have a great mentor. Unfortunately most people are also pretty clueless about how to find and use a mentor. This is a deck for those people!

1. WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF
MENTORSHIP
FOR THOSE THAT KNOW THEY NEED IT, BUT NOT HOW TO GET IT

2. Most people know that one of the best
ways to develop your career is to have a
great mentor

3. WARNING
I don’t mean a coach!

4. A coach is someone who helps you build
your skills

5. A mentor is different

6. A mentor provides experience-earned
wisdom and guidance, not knowledge
and skills

7. A mentor helps you choose what to do,
when to do it, and why. She does not
show you how

8. Unfortunately most people are pretty
clueless about how to find and use a
mentor

9. This deck is for those people!

10. But first I’d like to remind you why
mentors are so important for your
career

11. ONE
Mentors have been around the block
and they can be role models who point
out pitfalls and dead ends that only
someone with experience will be able to
spot

12. TWO
Mentors have seen people like you
before and have seen what works

13. THREE
Mentors can help you build your
professional network. They know senior,
experienced folks who they can intro
you to

14. FOUR
If they are in your firm, mentors can be
an internal reference or career
advocates when your line manager
needs support getting you a promotion
or better comp

15. So assuming this is a relationship you
want, how do you go about forming one

16. The mentoring relationship is actually quite personal, and it is
important to pick the right mentor.
ACTIVITY 1: As you are selecting the right mentor, make sure you can
answer yes to all of the following questions:
Do you like and respect the person?
Does the person have time and interest?
Can being my mentor be of value for them?
Can this person help open doors / create opportunities for me?
Does this person have the right personality and relevant experience
and skills to challenge me in unexpected ways?
PICK THE RIGHT MENTOR

17. Mentors are usually senior, experienced people, and have little time
to “chat”. Being efficient and effective is critical for the relationship,
and for that you need to be laser focussed on outcomes. You’ll want
to work out what you broadly want to achieve? What is the “vision”
of the relationship and what does success look like.
ACTIVITY 2: Try working backwards and describing yourself “after”
the mentoring. What will you look like – then work backwards to
work out how to get there.
ACTIVITY 3: Figure out how will you know when you have achieved
the goals of mentoring? Can you define some tangible metrics that
you can use to check yourself against progress?
KNOW WHAT YOUR GOALS ARE

18. Although I just said it, it bears repeating. Be very effective and
efficient with your mentor’s time. Being e&e in any meeting starts
and ends with great documentation. Here are some best practices to
start with…
Compose the meeting agendas well in advance
Ensure that every agenda item drives outcomes (see previous slide)
Give your mentor time to review the agenda and provide feedback
Prioritize urgent/important topics first
Control time. Be good at estimating how long each item will take to
go through, and stick to the times you set
Summarize the meeting, focusing on key take-aways & action items
CONTROL THE MEETING

19. A great mentoring session requires deep focus and honesty. So
do not have your mentoring session at Starbucks, please.
Take the effort to book a place where you and your mentor can
focus and speak freely.
Finally, make sure that you choose a location that is very
convenient for your mentor. Don’t make them work hard for
you.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT SETTING

20. This only works if you are going to be honest and make the
commitment to challenge yourself and your assumptions. The
whole purpose of this is to drive change, and this will only work if
you get yourself mentally ready and then be real.
At the same time, this can only work if you really actively listen.
People listen differently, so think about what works for you. Some
people need to write, some people need to record an audio track
to review later. Find what works for you.
Whatever the case, I strongly encourage you to make time to
repeat back, in your own words, what your mentor tells you. This
will make sure you understand fully and that you can internalize
and personalize the feedback.
BE OPEN, HONEST, AND ACTIVELY LISTEN

21. Warning: Everyone is growing. Everyone makes mistakes. And,
everyone is just flat out wrong from time to time.
While it is important for you to challenge yourself in a
mentoring relationships, and that sometimes means that the
sessions take you in uncomfortable directions, make sure that
you listen to your internal spider sense and be prepared to say
“no” sometimes, while not losing respect for your mentor.
No matter what, don’t hold your mentor up on a pedestal.
Remember that they are human too.
KNOW THAT MENTORS CAN BE WRONG

22. Despite doing everything right, it may very well be that there is
simply no mojo between the two of you.
Don’t allow a mentorship relationship to last longer than the
value of the relationship.
If you are no longer finding value, or if you sense that your
mentor is not finding value, stop the mentoring immediately.
You need to find a different mentor, and your mentor has
better things to do!
KNOW WHEN IT’S NOT WORKING

23. Make sure to recognize your mentors commitment and
contribution regularly. Say thank you whenever you
have a chance.
Better yet, give your mentor tangible, specific
examples of where her feedback has yielded positive
returns for you in your life or career. This will make
your mentor feel better, more motivated to work with
you, and give them ideas of what works best
SAY THANKS & GIVE FEEDBACK

24. Please note that all content & opinions expressed in this deck are my own and don’t
necessarily represent the position of my current, or any previous, employers
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