The physicist Niels Bohr said, “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field of work.” If this is true, I guess I can be considered an expert in designing and implementing organizational learning programs. First of all, it is a focused field of work, and second, I have failed spectacularly in some of my projects!

My failures and mistakes have been a vital part of my learning process. And perhaps because of this flawed but very real-life experience, I am sometimes sought out to mentor my team members. Sometimes my Mentees seek me out themselves. At other times it is a more formal affair when both my Mentee and I have a formal goal in our annual performance development plan towards fulfilling the objectives of the Mentorship.

To make the Mentorship a success, both the Mentor and the Mentee are looking for certain qualities in each other. And if they don’t identify all or most of these qualities, they should be conscientious and decline the offer, as early as possible. Just like in any relationship, I guess!

Qualities I look for in my Mentees
  1. Drive: The Mentee must want to achieve the goal of the Mentorship at least as much as the Mentor. Ideally, they should want it much more, because it’s much more about their career than it is about mine.
  2. Short and long-term goals: How do the skills that the Mentee learns during the Mentorship tie in with their life goals? How do they plan to use these skills now? How do they plan to build upon these skills to forward their career? I can jog the Mentee’s thinking towards these questions, but the Mentee must be motivated enough to reflect upon these questions.
  3. The willingness to accept help without an ego: This is best explained with an example. A few years ago, I was requested to mentor two employees. Both of them were my seniors, and while they came with considerable subject matter expertise (ie: the organization’s business), they were new to training, especially the use of training technologies. The Mentorship went swimmingly for the first of these employees. We easily fell into a symbiotic relationship where she learned about training related topics from me, and I about the organization’s business from her. We acknowledged each other’s knowledge, and gave each other credit. But the Mentorship fell through in case of the second employee. She felt I had nothing to contribute to her learning as I was new to the organization. She kept making unprofessional comments like, “I’ll keep giving you casual feedback, like I would to a little girl.” And she kept stealing my ideas, without so much as a thank you. Mentees, remember!!! You’ve been assigned a Mentor for one reason: to discuss with and, if they’re effective, to learn from. Use this opportunity to your advantage and don’t let fear, self-doubt, and jealousy, cast a shadow on your learning experience.
  4. A questioning mind: A Mentee who engages in respectful, evidence-based enquiry, will always make the best possible use of the Mentorship. What’s more, they might even make good Mentors in the future.
  5. The willingness to improve upon previously produced work: A Mentorship offers a safe, guided environment for the Mentee to apply their newly gathered information. It is normal that the Mentee will make mistakes during this initial phase, and also normal that the Mentor will provide their inputs and feedback. The Mentees who improve the most during this application phase are the ones that look forward to feedback, are able to assimilate it into their learning, and are not afraid to unlearn and correct their mistakes using their re-calibrated knowledge.
  6. Interests beyond training, technology, and subject matter: A Mentee with diverse interests, even seemingly at conflict with those that are specifically being addressed during the Mentorship, will be able to interpret and synthesize new information from various perspectives.
  7. A knack for tinkering and transference: What aids in transforming learning to knowledge, and knowledge to competency? I believe it is motivation and curiosity. And here is where the primary role of the Mentor and the Mentee is defined. It is the Mentor’s responsibility to motivate their Mentee. And it is the Mentee’s role to be curious about what the Mentor says. “Is my Mentor right?” “How can I improve and add to the information they provided?” “Can I apply this information to solve a completely unrelated challenge?”  “How does this new information relate to, improve, and add to my already existing knowledge?” Asking these questions will ensure that the Mentee is making full use of the mentorship.

Over the years, I’ve realized the seven qualities have no clear/ sustained co-relation to age, gender, academic competence, cultural identity, or socio-economic upbringing. Every time a Mentor recognizes these qualities in a Mentee is a moment of thrill and joy. Because, when these qualities exist in a Mentee, it is an honor- as the Mentor- to be part of their career journeys in even the tiniest possible way.