Tips for mentees

Get ready to find your mentor

Define what you expect from a mentorship, what you can expect from a mentor and what a mentor can expect from you as a mentee.

The first meeting

The first meeting is where the two of you tune into each other and agree on mutual expectations and boundaries. Spend time getting to know one another. Make it clear to your mentor what your aims are for the mentorship, and agree on the practical details.

The purpose of the initial meeting is to chart the course and build mutual trust. Spend time getting to know one another and agree on your mutual aims and expectations.
Establish some basic ground rules:

• How long will each meeting last?
• How often will you meet?
• How will you communicate between meetings?
• What arrangement will you have for cancelling meetings?

After the meeting

After the initial session, both of you should be filled with energy and an expectation that your meetings can make a difference. You may also need some time to digest your impressions of the first meeting. It is important for your relationship with the mentor to follow through quickly with a decision and feedback to the mentor on whether you want to go ahead with the mentorship.

It's a good idea to read through the terms and conditions guide to Djøfs longterm mentorships before your first meeting.

A good meeting

Mentoring sessions should leave you feeling you’re on track as well as challenge you, so you can fulfil your aims and expectations from the mentorship. This video gives you a mentee’s recommendations for getting the most out of the conversations with your mentor.

A good meeting sets things in motion. Get the most out of the conversations with your mentor – here are four simple things you can do:

• Prepare what you want to talk to your mentor about. Mail a agenda one week prior to the next meeting.
• Slow down the pace of the conversation. Give yourself time to reflect.
• Time-out: Be open and honest with your mentor about whether the discussions are on the right track for you.
• Round off each meeting by summing up the ground covered; highlight the insights and ideas gained, and decide how these are actionable.
• Set aside time after each meeting to digest your thoughts and turn your ideas into action.

Continue your progress

You are now well underway in your mentorship. It’s all up to you to stay on track and act on your development goals and gain maximum benefit from the conversations with your mentor. You can use your mentor to challenge you, e.g. in terms of your self-insight, so you can grow and create new scope for action.

You can prepare for your next meeting by recalling what you have already acted on and not acted on so far in the mentorship. Explore your boundaries.

When you are noting down topics and questions, you might like to ask yourself: What would my mentor ask me at this point? In doing so, you will already have embarked on the self-inquiry that will allow you and your mentor to cover even more ground at your next session.

Here are some questions to kick-start your self-inquiry:

• What causes you to take action?
• What do you not act on? And what stops you?
• What questions would the mentor ask?
• What progression have you seen in the topics addressed during the conversations with your mentor?
• How might the format of the conversation be a challenge for you?