Characteristics of a Successful Mentor
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
Benjamin Franklin
Characteristics of Successful Formal Mentors By Susan M. Heathfield
1. They want to mentor another employee and is committed to the employee's growth and development and cultural integration.
2. They have the job content knowledge necessary to effectively teach a new employee significant job knowledge.
3. They are familiar with the organization's norms and culture. Can articulate and teach the culture.
4. They demonstrate honesty, integrity, and respect for and responsibility for stewardship.
5. They demonstrate effective communication skills, both verbally and nonverbally.
6. They are willing to help develop another employee through guidance, feedback, and occasionally, an insistence on a particular level of performance or appropriate direction.
7. They initiate new ideas and foster the employee's willingness and ability to make changes in his or her performance based on the constant change occurring in their work environment.
8. They have enough emotional intelligence to be aware of their personal emotions and is sensitive to the emotions and feelings of the employee they are mentoring.
9. They are an individual who would be rated as highly successful in both their job and in navigating the organization's culture by coworkers and managers.
10. They demonstrate success in establishing and maintaining professional networks and relationships, both online and offline.
11. They are willing to communicate failures as well as successes to the mentored employee.
12. They can spend an appropriate amount of time with the mentored employee.
The Top 10 Qualities of a Great Mentor by Adam Smith
1. A great mentor is a great listener.
2. A great mentor is excited to encourage you.
3. A great mentor seeks to understand.
4. A great mentor has prior experience in your specific area of focus and handled it in a way that you agree with.
5. A great mentor genuinely cares about your outcome.
6. A great mentor is truthful with you and won’t sugarcoat the situation as they teach you.
7. A great mentor believes in you, because they see your potential.
8. A great mentor can develop a plan for you and will help you execute it.
9. A great mentor isn’t there only to teach, but to learn from you as well. Learning from you will help their own journey, and will also help them in future mentoring relationships.
10. A great mentor will teach from the mistakes they have made along the way, in hopes that you will have an easier journey.
Additional Reading
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way Your Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
Mentoring 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
Point of Reflection
“One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.”
John C. Maxwell