Effective mentoring should be easy. But there are four challenges with which mentors must reckon if they are to move from a “block-checking” activity to a growth-producing result.
- Learning is a door opened only from the inside. That means mentors must find ways to be invited in. The authority feature of all mentors (“I have a competence you want but don’t have”) means mentors must level the learning field. Approaching the relationship as a partnership—two people jointly seeking an opportunity to explore—can help protégés lower their reluctance to trust.
- Learning means taking risks in front of another. Mentoring happens under the watchful eye of a mentor. Since learning cannot effectively occur without risk-taking, it requires mentors to create an atmosphere of safety; this includes a non-judgmental manner and a style of sincere curiosity.
- Learning is about insight and understanding, not information. Sustainable learning involves all manner of chemical changes inside the brain that only happen through fostering discovery. It is not opening protégés’ heads to pour in information. Great mentors must facilitate, not instruct. Thought-provoking questions must trump smart statements; growth-producing feedback and advice must rule over wise lecturing.
- Great mentoring is measured by the transfer of learning. Mentors must help protégés link what they learn to job application. It requires support beyond the mentoring relationship and transforming a cautious novice into a self-directed and joyful learner.
