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	Mentoring Tips

	by Neen James

Whenever I get the chance to interview amazing people on how they achieved their SUCCESS, I am often delighted to hear many of them have role models or mentors. This has been a huge part of my career as I sought out mentors from an early age. Mentors can have a significant impact on you personally and can escalate your career. The selection of a good mentor requires good RESEARCH and willingness to ‘check out’ lots of people before you decide. Here are my tips on how to find a good mentor.

KNOW WHAT YOU NEED

Decide what AREA you want help with –- examine your life and determine if you want help with your career or your health or your relationships. When you know the area you want to focus on you can then begin searching for a mentor.

FIND THE TALENT

Investigate top performers in your industry -– if you want to find a career mentor, find out who are the EXPERTS in the field of expertise you want to develop. You can start by finding out where your role models hang out –- check out networks, industry events and conferences to watch out for potential mentors. Spend time watching the people in the room and make note of anyone who stands out and has the ‘presence’ you are looking for.

A MORE STRUCTURED APPROACH

Investigate official mentoring PROGRAMS -– many organisations now have internal mentoring programs you can become a part of. If you work for yourself you can also investigate Government areas that have established mentoring programs also.

SELECTING YOUR MENTOR

When you find the person you believe would be suitable, spend some time watching them in action. Ask to go along to a presentation or meeting with them or ask if you can spend a “day in the life of” them and WATCH what they do. And do your homework on your mentor. Find out what your mentor likes to listen to, what books they read, which movies they enjoy and details about their family. This helps you to find areas of common ground where you can DEEPEN your relationship and also thank them in ways that are important to them.

APPROACHING YOUR MENTOR

When you have chosen a potential mentor, ask around to find out what you can about their achievements, beliefs, values and way of operating. This will give you INSIGHT into them before you approach them about mentoring you. Then phone them or make an appointment to see them. Advise them why you want to meet and schedule time. This is an important step in the process so you can show them you RESPECT their time and you are committed to dong the right thing. When you meet have an outline of what you would like to discuss. Your agenda should include why you want them to mentor you, how long it is for and what you hope to gain during that time. Once you determine who you would like to be your mentor there a few guidelines listed below to help you maximise your time with you mentor.

HAVE A WRITTEN AGREEMENT

If you both decide to proceed, set up an agreement with GUIDELINES for timeframe, contact boundaries, full honesty etc. Put your mentoring agreement in writing by outlining each person’s responsibilities and commitments. Be sure to set an initial time LIMIT. Limit your formal mentoring relationship to six months. This gives you a timeframe within which to achieve your goals and learnings. And agree upfront to maintain confidentiality. Keep discussions between you and your mentor private. Never disclose details of your discussions with others.

GET INTO A ROUTINE

Meet monthly. Make a REGULAR time (that is convenient for your mentor) for a one-hour meeting each month. Plan to meet in a location that suits your mentor, whether it is his or her office, favourite coffee shop or some other place they suggest. Avoid contacting your mentor outside of agreed times. If you agree to meet once a month, save your discussions for this meeting. If you do need to contact them outside of this time, use email so that you don’t interrupt their daily activities. And set an AGENDA for each meeting. Keep an ongoing list of things you would like to discuss with your mentor as issues arise throughout the month. Let your mentor know what you would like to discuss, what challenges you have been facing and what questions you have a few days in advance. If you can’t meet in person, book a teleconference and run the meeting in the same way as you would if you were face-to-face.

FULFILL YOUR MENTEE COMMITMENTS

Always turn up to meetings PREPARED, always complete any assignments or TASKS given to you from your mentor and always look for opportunities to support your mentor. Do your homework. Your mentor might give you activities to try or challenges for the next month -– always complete these tasks and report back on your success.

TRY TO OUTDO YOUR MENTOR

Learn from their experiences but always try and develop your own work that is even BETTER than your mentor’s. If you are successful, you could SHARE your new ideas with them and add value by improving their business.

SUPPORT YOUR MENTOR

Being a good mentee is all about serving your mentor to create opportunities through which you can draw from their experience –- offer to assist them with a project, help out in their business unit, drive them to an event or take them to the airport. Never ask your mentor “What can I do for you?” -– always be creative and find ways to ASSIST them without being asked. Offer to do some data entry in their office, offer to pick them up from the airport instead of them taking a cab, and offer to help recruit staff for their business -– find ways to help them without expecting anything in return. Opportunities to support your mentor can coincide with debriefing conversations. If they are traveling, go with them and use the uninterrupted time to gain wisdom and assistance. And don't forget to PROMOTE your mentor to others. Always take the opportunity to let others know about your mentor’s skills, achievements and successes.

MY STORY

When I chose to become a professional speaker I sought out the most TALENTED Australian speaker I could find. He was accomplished, fantastic presenter, had won many client and industry awards and ran a profitable speaking business. I asked him to mentor me and for six months -- I followed him everywhere. I went to client meetings, sold books for him at the back of the room when he presented, helped him on projects, worked in his office, paid for interstate flights to get uninterrupted discussions during travel time. Spending time with him ACCELERATED my speaking career in an astronomical way, helped me form valuable relationships and also lead to my next exciting career move. I was a dedicated mentee and would do anything to serve and learn.

MAKING IT WORK

When you invest your time in being a committed mentee you will be REWARDED with accelerated experiences from your mentor. You will avoid mistakes they may have made, learn about the industry, meet great people, form valuable relationships and then be able to mentor someone in your future.

Neen is a Global Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention –- Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Visit her website at www.neenjames.com.

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