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That’s it, you’ve found yourself a mentor! Congratulations! How are you feeling? Nervous, excited? All of the above? It’s perfectly normal: these are valid feelings leading to your first mentoring session with your mentor.
Good preparation will allow you to begin this new mentoring relationship with confidence and determination. Elo‘s mentoring expert, Camille Detouillon, offers 5 valuable and actionable tips to help you prepare for your first mentoring session and build a solid foundation for your relationship.
What you’ll learn :
→ Tips for preparing for your first mentoring session with your mentor
→ Checklist to download before your first mentoring session
Before your first mentoring session, send a LinkedIn invitation to your mentor. Use this opportunity to explore their LinkedIn profile (or Elo profile) to find things you have in common. Whether it’s a passion, a hobby, a college program in common, or even the high school you attended, anything can become relevant to make a connection between the two of you.
Help your mentor in his role by sharing your situation, your challenges and your needs. Openness is the key! If you already have a mentoring goal, share it with your mentor and remember to be open to his suggestions and recommendations. After all, their goal is to help you grow.
Choose, with your mentor, the date, time, duration and location of the mentoring session. Make sure to prepare an agenda with a list of points you’d like to address and share this agenda with your mentor prior to the meet.
Is there anything, in particular, you would like to explore with your mentor? Why did you choose this person in the first place? Share with your mentor your expectations of the mentoring relationship so that they understand how to help you. If you don’t have any particular expectations and you just want to talk, this is also good. In any case, just let your mentor know.
It’s normal to have questions before your first mentoring session (How will our first meeting go? Will my mentor be able to answer my needs? Will my mentor judge me?) Remember: your mentor had to overcome obstacles or had goals similar to yours. In other words, they are human beings who have volunteered to guide you in your professional goals. No matter your questions or goals, the mentor will simply want to help and guide you. Like you, the mentor grows from this relationship. And what if the mentor doesn’t have the answer? He/she will tell you and refer you to another mentor if necessary. Don’t forget, there is nothing to stop you from having more than one mentor.
You can download this list to make sure you don’t forget anything or to share it with someone who might need it.
Our solutions make it easy for organizations to launch and manage a mentoring program with consulting services, training, and a mentoring platform. Our experts are here to support you every step of the way when designing, implementing, or evaluating your program. Program leaders, mentors and mentees benefit from personalized coaching.