Three Practices Of Engagement For Optimal Outcomes in Mentoring Partnerships

^{Updated January 28, 2022.}

Great mentoring relationships seem to have a natural ease that require little effort yet yield valuable outcomes. What I’ve observed is that beneath this ease, mentoring partners have established and include three practices that nurture the relationship itself as well as the outcomes – being curious, conscientious  and committed.

Be Curious

Adopt a stance of being curious about everything – your partner, your goals, your partner’s goals and progress towards those goals. Get to know each other, both past experience and who they are now.  Ask questions withholding judgment, interpretation and assumptions. Assumptions are the land of make believe. Find out what’s true for them and be wildly fascinated about their perspective. What new information, ideas and opportunities are lurking in a different point of view? Be reflective instead of reflexive in your responses. Problem solve together.

Be Conscientious

Being conscientious in the relationship means being intentional about the parameters you establish in the beginning and how you will sustain the relationship over time. It’s often assumptions about logistics that cause relationship breakdowns. Make the first activity of your mentoring relationship a conversation about how to work together. Create partnership agreements that include explicit expectations and boundaries for working together such as preferred mode of communication (phone, text, video, email, in person), frequency of meetings, duration of the relationship and confidentiality of conversations. 

Being conscientious also means being aware of your reactions and feelings to what’s going on during discussions and interactions. After every meeting, check in with each other and ask, “What’s working well? What did you learn today? How can we make this relationship even better?” Remember to maintain a stance of curiosity and really listen to what your partner has to say.  

Be Committed

In every mentoring program training, I ask participants what concerns they have as they begin their mentoring partnership. One hundred percent of the time, the number one concern is prioritizing and making time to get together with their mentoring partner. My response to the time concern is simple. Whether a formal program or an informally established mentoring relationship, when you signed up or entered into the relationship, you set the expectation to show up. To make time. So honour your commitment. Make sure the meetings happen and reschedule promptly if a change is necessary. Communicate regularly as per your partnership agreement. Engage in the learning opportunity by articulating and clarifying your goals on an ongoing basis. Participate fully. 

Engage With Intention

Mentoring is about learning. Maximizing the learning in a mentoring partnership requires engaging intentionally in both the relationship itself as well as the goals and desired outcomes for your time together.

Curiosity, commitment and conscientious attention to the relationship are the sustaining practices that create genuine connection, greater ease and optimal outcomes. 

As you reflect on your most memorable mentoring relationships, what actions, activities, behaviours and practices contributed to the positive outcomes?