Mentoring often gives different resources for personal growth than formal education or corporate training. However, selecting your mentor wisely and preparing for the discussions will help to benefit more from mentoring than simply having a coffee with your mentor without predesigned agenda. A good mentor can provide support, give advice and support critical thinking.

• Writing down your weaknesses and obstacles for professional development and listing the skills you need to improve in can provide a list of qualities to seek in your mentor.
• Agreeing on the concrete goals and practices with the mentor, for example, how often to meet and how to prepare for the meetings, will help to organize the mentoring efficiently and to manage expectations.
• To evaluate advice given by your mentor keep in mind, on which field he has expertise in and in what areas he is still a beginner. Most of us have difficulties to evaluate critically advice given by someone we respect.
• Once you notice agreeing on most of the things you discuss it is often time to move forward. A good mentor helps you to question your thinking.

Mentoring can be a great source of information and inspiration. It supports personal development in a very individual way.

To whom could you provide mentoring?

How could you help your team members find suitable mentors?