Generally, mentorship consists of a mentor and a mentee where the mentor is a person who will push the mentee out of their comfort zone. Mentors share insights and experience to mentees to help guide them in achieving their goals.
1. Find someone who you want to be like. This can be in terms of a job you want, skills you wish to acquire, or someone who has gone through similar experiences as you in the past.
2. Build the relationship. Get to know the person more if you do not know them already. Ease into the relationship before making the ask so you can truly identify whether or not this person is the right fit.
3. Make the “ask”. Ask the person for some advice, continue to ease into things and see how comfortable the other person is. When in doubt about when to ask the person to be your mentor, just go for it.
4. Know your expectations. Be clear on what you hope to get out of the mentorship and what the commitment will be like (e.g. meeting 2x per month, quarterly, or whatever works for you and your mentor). Having an agenda or specific questions for your mentor helps them guide you in the most effective way possible.
5. Follow-up with your mentor. After your meetings or interactions with them don’t forget to follow-up and say thank you.
6. Ask for feedback. As your relationship progresses, asking for feedback is one of the best ways to grow. It will help you understand where you are at and it will help your mentor know where they are best suited to help.
Sometimes, mentors will pull apart your ideas or provide gentle critiques on your opinions and ideas, don’t take it personally, be open to their perspective.
Just because you do not understand or do not like what your mentors says, this doesn’t mean it is wrong/won’t work
Sometimes mentors intentionally simplify or briefly explain things- this is often so that you can grow and fill in the gaps yourself
Reflect on your experiences/conversations, be curious about the advice your mentor is giving you and why they might have given it to you
