How do I improve as a mentor?
Mentoring is a practical skill, not a personality trait. The mentors who improve fastest are the ones who look back at what they said.
- Read time
- 3 minutes
- Module
- Mentoring well, long term
- Session length
- 30 minutes
What good looks like.
Spend two minutes after each session asking one question: what did I say that they will still remember on Friday? Over ten sessions that produces a real method.
Read the feedback you get, especially the lukewarm kind. A three-out-of-five with a comment is more useful than ten silent fives.
Widen slowly. Take a mentee slightly outside your usual field once you are comfortable, and you will find out how much of your advice was transferable.
A sequence you can follow.
- 01
Reflect for two minutes
One thing that worked, one thing that did not.
- 02
Read your feedback
Look for patterns rather than reacting to one comment.
- 03
Change one thing at a time
Test it across three sessions before judging.
- 04
Protect your capacity
Decline when your diary is full; a cancelled session costs a mentee more than a decline.
What to avoid.
Repeating the same session twenty times without reflection
Taking on more slots than you can keep
Treating one piece of critical feedback as a verdict
Extra tips
Small things that make the half hour better.
Keep a three-line log
What worked, what did not, what to try next time.
Change one habit at a time
Test it over three sessions before deciding whether it helped.
Watch a mentor you rate
Ask a colleague how they open, and steal the good parts.
Protect your capacity
Two sessions a month you keep is worth more than six you cancel.
Take this guide with you.
Download a printable version of this guide: the short answer, the steps, the extra tips, the mistakes to avoid and the questions mentors ask, to read before your next session.
The things people ask first.
How many sessions should I aim for?
Whatever you can hold reliably. Two a month, kept, is a strong contribution.
Next: Choosing which mentees to take.
Say yes to the matches you can genuinely help, and decline the rest early.