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What the Best Mentors Do

  • Anthony K. Tjan

It’s not about making people more like you.

There are lots of ways to be a good mentor, but there are a few common principles that the best mentors share. One principle is putting the relationship before the mentorship. No amount of mentorship training outweighs the value of an authentic connection between mentor and mentee. Secondly, focus on developing your mentee’s character and not just their job skills. Invest in your mentee’s self-awareness, empathy, and capacity for respect. The next practice of good mentors is sharing their optimism much more than their cynicism. If your mentee shares an idea that seems unrealistic, try the 24 x 3 rule: spend 24 seconds, 24 minutes, or a day thinking about all the reasons that the idea is good before you criticize any aspect of it. Finally, be more loyal to your mentee than you are to your company. If your mentee’s passions and skills are not a good fit for their job, or if your company has limited opportunities for your mentee to move up, you should help them move on. At its highest level, mentorship means committing to helping other become fuller versions of themselves.

Mentorship comes in many flavors. It doesn’t always work unless leaders bear in mind a few common principles.

mentorship essay introduction

  • Anthony Tjan is CEO, Managing Partner and Founder of the venture capital firm Cue Ball , former vice chairman of the advisory firm Parthenon , co-author of the New York Times bestseller Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck (HBR Press, 2012) and author of  Good People (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, 2017). Find him on LinkedIn .

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  1. Introduction to mentoring: A guide for mentors and mentees

    This Introduction to Mentoring was produced as a general guide for prospective mentors and mentees who are interested in engaging in professional developmental relationships. expand all. Mentoring defined A mentor is an individual with expertise who can help develop the career of a mentee. A mentor often has two primary functions for the mentee.

  2. Essay on Mentorship

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    Mentorship means different things to different people. In this essay, we define mentors as those at various stages of our careers who have believed in us, shared their knowledge, helped strategize solutions to problems and listened to us when we needed them. Social support is important in all careers, but it is crucial in academe.

  6. PDF Introduction to Mentoring

    MENTORING DEFINED. A mentor is an individual with expertise who can help develop the career of a mentee. A mentor o en has two primary functions for the mentee. The career-related function establishes the mentor as a coach who provides advice to enhance the mentee's professional performance and development.

  7. What the Best Mentors Do

    Summary. There are lots of ways to be a good mentor, but there are a few common principles that the best mentors share. One principle is putting the relationship before the mentorship. No amount ...

  8. (PDF) An Introduction to Mentoring Principles, Processes, and

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    Making a Mentorship Work. Determining your needs, choosing the right person and setting realistic goals are the keys to success, according to Susan L. Phillips and Susan T. Dennison. Many new faculty members wonder if getting a mentor to help them get started and advance in academe is a good idea. If you are one of them, and you are considering ...

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    One mentor recounts, "You attend to their intellectual development, but also be aware of their emotional and personal and family stresses that impact that intellectual job that we're supposed to do. The idea that students just bring in a big brain, surrounded by nothing -- it doesn't work that way.".

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    The mentor cares about the individual. They want to see them succeed both in their professional life as well as their personal life. A success in one area cannot make up for failure in the other. When mentors take a holistic view of the mentor/mentee relationship, they often form strong bonds.

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    Introduction Of Leadership And Mentoring Management Essay. According to Northouse, P, leadership is defines as a process whereby a person influences a group of persons to achieve a destination. In simple terms, leadership is a transactional event that occurs between these individuals instead of a characteristic that resides in the leader.

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  16. The Significance of Mentorship and Role Models in ...

    This essay will explore the significance of mentorship and the role of role models in empowering women and promoting gender equality. The Power of Mentorship. Mentorship plays a crucial role in the personal and professional growth of women. A mentor is someone who provides guidance, support, and advice based on their own experiences and expertise.

  17. PDF Mentoring Guide

    The mentor's role is to share experience, insights and feedback that will guide the mentor in the achievement of his or her learning objectives. Listening plays an important part in the mentoring role - listening to understand the mentee's goals and to uncover key learning opportunities that support those goals.

  18. Introduction Of Leadership And Mentoring Nursing Essay

    Introduction Of Leadership And Mentoring Nursing Essay. Leading is mean by setting direction and ensuring that direction is followed. Leading can apply to leading oneself, other individuals, groups, organizations and societies. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader" (John, 2007).

  19. 1 Introduction: Why Does Mentoring Matter?

    Mentoring has long served an essential role in developing science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) professionals.1 Learning about the current state of knowledge in one's discipline, developing expert skill sets, and becoming familiar with disciplinary culture is a process that occurs gradually over time, and aspiring STEMM professionals gather the tacit and ...

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    In fact, I advocate that every person have at least three mentors. A mentor is simply someone who helps us get unstuck, a non-judgmental person who listens with an open mind to help us steer clear ...

  21. How to Write an Essay Introduction

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    Peer-to-Peer Mentorship happens when employees at the same or similar skill levels mentor each other. Peer mentorship helps build camaraderie and a sense of community among colleagues. Peer-to ...

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