Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Choosing a Mentoring Type
• Part 2 of 3: Finding a mentor
• Part 3 of 3: Maintaining Healthy Mentoring

A mentor is usually a volunteer counselor or teacher who guides you through your work, school, or other areas of your life.Sometimes mentoring is a formally organized relationship between a professional and a novice, and sometimes it is more informal, such as a friendship with a role model. While the severity of the mentoring relationship will depend on your desire, this article is intended to help you find potential mentors and define the relationship for yourself. Read on to get started.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Choosing a Mentoring Type

1. 1 Understand the role of a mentor. A good mentor will help you learn something, not do it for you. The mentor sets an example. For example, an academic mentor might offer effective tricks, tips, and examples to show you resourceful alternatives for success, but won't help you copy and edit your history essay on the last day before submission. This is the difference between a tutor and a mentor. Good mentor:
   • will appreciate your strengths and weaknesses;
   • helps you understand the structure and organization of the topic;
   • present new perspectives and correct the wrong train of thought;
   • will increase your ability to make decisions;
   • will acquaint you with specific techniques;
   • will provide you with important resources and useful links.
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Archana Ramamoorthy, MS

   
   
   Workday CTO Archana Ramamurthy is Workday CTO (North America). High-profile product specialist, advocate for security, advocate for greater integration on a level playing field in the technology industry. She received her BA from SRM University and her MA from Duke University. Has been working in the field of product management for over eight years.

   Archana Ramamoorthy, MS
   Workday CTO

   Look for someone who can advise you from the outside. Archana Ramamurthy, director of technology product management at Workday, says: "Mentoring is a way to get an outside perspective on who you are and the skills you are working on, but the mentor does not have to be aware of the day-to-day details of your life." ...

   
   
2. 2 Academic mentor. This type of mentoring usually involves personal engagement with someone who is superior to you in the subject being studied, has time to offer mentoring, and an interest in your academic performance. Consider a candidate:
   • a teacher, instructor or other member of the teaching staff;
   • an older or more experienced student;
   • brother, sister or other family member.
3. 3 Sports mentor. Think of a mentor who excels at the sport you are interested in mastering. While athletic ability is an important part of sports mentoring, also consider the human side of relationships when considering sports mentoring. A good soccer coach will be good at the sport, a smart athlete and well-rounded person, while also being a phenomenal footballer. Consider a candidate:
   • coach or assistant coach;
   • an experienced player on your team or another team;
   • a professional athlete or former athlete;
   • instructor.
4. 4 Business mentor. Business mentors and other professional mentors tend to be successful performers in the area you are trying to break into, who can bring the ins and outs of the business to your attention. This can be anything from stock trading to blues guitar playing. Think about who does what you want to do better than you do it. Consider a candidate:
   • a colleague or business friend;
   • the former boss, but not the current boss;
   • an employee with an excellent reputation.
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Ken Koster, MS

   
   
   Programmer Ken Koster is the co-founder and CTO of the medical technology company Ceevra. He has over 15 years of experience in programming and leading development teams in Silicon Valley companies. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from Stanford University.

   Ken Koster, MS
   Programmer

   In an established company, finding a mentor can be easier. Programmer Ken Koster says, “One of the biggest challenges of working in a startup early in your career is that finding a good mentor is essential for true professional development. Depending on which startup you join, these resources may not be there. Companies that have been around for longer usually have more mentoring and career development opportunities».

5. 5 Personal mentor. Develop a relationship with someone you admire as a person, not for what they do, but for who they are and how they do it. Think about the person you would like to be like for no particular reason. A personal mentor can be:
   • neighbour;
   • your favorite bartender or barista;
   • your personal style icon;
   • someone you go to church with;
   • a salesperson at your favorite bookstore;
   • a member of the social club you are a member of.
6. 6 Think of different ways to communicate. The mentor can be a neighbor or classmate you admire, but it can also be someone you have never met. The famous book by Rainer Maria Rilke "Letters to a Young Poet" is a chronicle of the correspondence between the famous poet (Rilke) and a young student writer who sent him some poems and asked for advice. Think about:
   • successful people you may have read about and felt a connection to;
   • people who can be contacted on the Internet;
   • anyone who meets any of the criteria for mentoring, but who you are not yet personally acquainted with.

Part 2 of 3: Finding a mentor

1. 1 Decide what specific role your mentor should play. Write down any concerns or specific requirements you may have in relation to the field or subject. It would be helpful to answer the following questions:
   • What do you want to know?
   • What are you looking for from your mentor?
   • What will mentoring look like?
   • How often do you want to meet? Where?
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   A mentor will help you grow. He has gone through a lot that you will go through and can guide you and shape your judgments.

   

   Ken Koster, MS

   Programmer Ken Koster is the co-founder and CTO of the medical technology company Ceevra. He has over 15 years of experience in programming and leading development teams in Silicon Valley companies. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from Stanford University.

   Ken Koster, MS
   Programmer

2. 2 List the possibilities. List potential mentors based on your personal criteria and relationship desires. Organize your list by starting with the best options.
   • Look for the "complete kit". If you really admire someone’s business acumen, but you hate that person as a person, then they will not be a good mentor.
   • Aim high. The rich and famous have personal assistants who learn from them and make connections based on those relationships. Why not you? If Donald Trump is your ideal business mentor, put him at the top of your list. Write a letter to his office, try to make an appointment, or apply to participate in his show.
   • Check to see if your company or school has a formal mentoring program to match you with a mentor. If so, see if it suits your goals and get involved.
3. 3 Think about what you have to say. Walking up to the teacher after class and saying, “I thought, maybe you will be my mentor?”, You can scare him away if you do not explain what you mean. This is a significant role and a significant commitment if all you really need is, "Can we meet in the cafeteria sometimes and talk about physics?" Be specific and explain what you are looking for.
   • Use the word "mentor" less. “Your advice would help me to figure out how to increase my sales in the next quarter.You seem to really understand this. Would you mind discussing this from time to time over a cup of coffee? " sounds more attractive to your potential mentor than “I need you as a mentor. I need to increase my sales. Help".
   • Make sure you make the right impression. If the salesperson you truly admire is of the opposite sex, then this may very well sound like a date. Meet in the office or on campus if you're worried it might sound like that.
4. 4 Start approaching potential mentors. Go through the list until someone agrees to the relationship you described.
   • If you didn't find anyone on the first lap, don't worry. It may not be related to you personally at all, but more to do with the person's busy schedule or other issues. Start looking again and consider potential mentors who have more time to spare or who are more willing to work with you.
5. 5 Make an appointment. Don't let the relationship take its course after you've gotten someone's consent. Make specific plans to meet and play golf to improve your hitting, or review your homework calculations on a specific day at a specific time.
   • If the first meeting goes well, schedule follow-up meetings. At this stage, you can ask: "Do you mind making our meetings regular?"

Part 3 of 3: Maintaining Healthy Mentoring

1. 1 Make a schedule and stick to it. Even if mentoring exists primarily via email or online, don't start bombarding your mentor with last-minute requests for advice if you don't fit into the predefined messaging framework.
   • If the relationship reaches a natural end, then it's okay to end it. If you are confident that you have improved enough in the skill you wanted to learn from your mentor that you feel confident enough to move forward without the weekly café meetings, then say so.
2. 2 Make the relationship mutually beneficial. Think about what you can offer your mentor in return. If you get a ton of free advice from a professor about your stories, ask if you can be of help in research or technology. Setting up a new wireless router is a great way to earn favor.
   • As you move up the career ladder, remember who and what brought you here. As opportunities grow, do not forget about your mentors who helped you along the way.
3. 3 Show appreciation. Email your mentor to keep him informed of your progress, and remember to thank him for his special contribution. From this he will feel useful, needed, and also skillful in his business.
   • Be specific. The phrase "Thank you, you are helping me so much!" not as inspiring as “I was so successful at the last sale just because you showed me the ins and outs of the case. Thanks!"
   • A gratitude may include a small gift that expresses your “thank you”. Little things like a book, a bottle of wine, or dinner may be appropriate.
4. 4 Maintain a strictly professional relationship between you and your mentor. Bringing emotion into a relationship with a mentor will generally not be conducive to mentoring, especially if it is the person you are working with. Informal occasional communication is acceptable and may even benefit your professional relationship, but a mentor should not become your new best friend, so avoid diving into overly personal or sensitive topics.
   • For example, you might not only learn about the mentor's professional experience, but also ask about their interests at the end of the conversation. Having a shared interest can even strengthen your relationship as a whole, but even if there are no shared interests, it can still be helpful to ask such a question in order to get closer without overstepping personal boundaries.