Think about a current (or recent) mentoring relationship. To what extent have you done each of the following: 1. Establish a strong relationship. The stronger the relationship, the greater the empowerment. As you look for potential mentorees, keep compatibility and chemistry in mind. Fully Partially Didn't 2. Agree on purpose. A basic rule in planning is "begin with the end in mind." When mentoring proves disappointing, the problem usually points back to differing or unfulfilled expectations. So at the very beginning, agree on what you're both hoping to achieve. Fully Partially Didn't 3. Determine contact frequency. Intensive mentoring works best with at least once-a-week contact, either face-to-face or by phone. Fully Partially Didn't 4. Decide on the type of accountability. Will you use written reports, scheduled phone calls, probing questions during meetings, or a planned evaluation time? Fully Partially Didn't 5. Set up communication mechanisms. As mentors, we have always asked our mentorees, "If I see or learn of an area of concern, how and when do you want me to communicate it to you?"  Fully Partially Didn't 6. Clarify the confidentiality level. Make it clear when something you share should be treated as confidential. Fully Partially Didn't 7. Set the relationship's life cycle. It's best to avoid open-ended mentorships. Better to have short periods, evaluation, and closure points with the possibility of reentry than have a sour relationship for a long time that each fears terminating. Fully Partially Didn't 8. Evaluate regularly. See where progress has been made, where there are problems, and what should be done to improve the mentoring. Joint evaluation is always best Fully Partially Didn't 9. Modify expectations, as necessary. After a time of mentoring, bring expectations down to what is more likely going to happen—and give thanks for it. Fully Partially Didn't 10. Bring closure at the right time. Vertical mentoring that has no clear end in mind will usually dwindle to nothing with uneasy feelings on the part of both people. A happy ending requires that both parties be involved in evaluating and mutually ending the mentoring relationship. Fully Partially Didn't Copied from Connecting: The Mentoring Relationships You Need to Succeed in Life by Paul D. Stanley and J. Robert Clinton. Copyright 1992. Used by permission of NavPress—www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Discuss
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