How to accept a Mentee

Here's best practice on how a Mentee approaches enrolling a Mentor

If someone does approach you to become their mentor you need to consider:

• Are they hungry enough to listen to you?
• Do they respect you?
• Do they have the capacity to maintain that respect?
• Can you see how you could make a difference to them?

 If you can answer yes to all four things, then you need to enrol them.

• Tell them what your conditions are - set your ground rules  (that they agree to do whatever you tell them to do, that they keep their word, that they respect your time, that they keep you posted with their results, that they listen to your feedback, especially if it hurts)
• Ask them how hungry they are to achieve their goals.  Tell them that they need to be very, very hungry for success.
• Make sure that your meetings with them suit you.  Put a strict time limit on your meeting times.  Set the tone that you are calling the shots.  Even Mother Teresa cracked the whip with her mentees.
• Establish how you want to be communicated with.  (Text, email, phone, Cellphone, Basecamp, facebook etc)

If they agree to your conditions, have assured you that they will leap through fire to achieve their goals, agree to respect your time and agree to communicate with you through your favorite channels, then you have conducted your first mentoring session.

The job of the mentor is to help the mentee achieve their goals, work their way through obstacles, celebrate with them, console them when necessary, advise them, give them useful feedback, fire them up, share your street smarts and introduce them to people who can help them.

Your payment will be the reward of your giving being gratefully received.  You will also bank your own learnings by teaching another.  Your depth of understanding will plum greater depths.  Your reward will be the look in their eyes when they have success and the fact you can be with them when they get kicked down.

Here's a book to help you navigate your way through mentoring someone, written by one of the most famous Mentors in the world, Machiavelli.  It's called 'The Prince'.

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