Creating a Lasting Impact: How To Be a Great Mentor

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If you have experience and knowledge that you can share with someone, you can be a mentor. Being a mentor is a very rewarding experience, you’re essentially helping someone change their life for the better.

However, there are some distinct differences between those who are good mentors and those who work hard to be great mentors. Does it take more time and effort? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Perhaps you want to become a mentor or already are one and want to become even better, either way, you’re in the right place.

In this article, we share 9 tips that will take you from being an okay mentor to being the best mentor you can be and making a lasting impact.

1. Offer Constructive Criticism and Feedback

Constructive criticism and feedback are integral parts of professional development. Providing feedback and criticism may seem like a daunting task to some, but it's essential if you want to be the best mentor you can be. You want to deliver feedback in a way that doesn't offend the mentee or make them feel less confident, but you also don't want to filter the feedback if you think it's helpful in the grand scheme of things.

When you give your mentee feedback, it should be specific and actionable in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of the person you're mentoring. A great way to provide critique and feedback is to share your experience with the mentee and reveal the lessons you learned along the way. Check out this article for more ways to effectively provide feedback.

2. Focus on Building Trust

A mentoring relationship is a personal one, where two people work together to connect, achieve goals, and be open about their vulnerabilities and weaknesses. To be an excellent mentor, you first need to build a relationship of trust with your mentee if you want to see them thrive.

Your mentee should be comfortable with you so that they can share both personal and professional issues, whilst also revealing the goals they want to achieve. This means, as a mentor, you need to create a space where your mentee is comfortable enough to open up to you and at the same time be a non-judgmental figure in their life.

If you can build trust with your mentee, your relationship can go one step further.

3. Set Clear, Actionable Goals

The difference between a satisfactory mentor and a wonderful mentor is the ability to help the mentee understand and define their goals. A good mentor should help mentees set clear, actionable goals to help the mentee reach them easier.

Most mentees struggle to identify their needs and what to prioritise first on their list of things that need to be completed. When you’re able to help your mentee set S.M.A.R.T. goals, you're helping them create a plan of action and a list of what needs to be done, you should also revisit them regularly to assess progress toward and adjust the plan as needed.

4. Act as a Role Model

A good mentor is a positive and influential role model for the mentee. A mentee can learn a lot by observing your behaviour in specific situations. Act as a model and share the values and behaviours you want your mentee to obtain. This is particularly important in cases such as mentoring women in leadership, due to the lack of representation already seen.

Acting as a role model means demonstrating integrity, reliability, and commitment to your own development, as well as your mentee's personal and professional advancement. You must be willing to share your personal experience and knowledge to help mentees understand they are not alone in this journey and be willing to share how you have been able to overcome similar hurdles in the past.

5. Offer Networking Opportunities

We all know that networking plays an important role in our careers. Introducing a mentee to your network of connections is not required, but is highly recommended. Mentoring is about making connections as well as helping mentees develop their skills.

Introducing a mentee to your network can be very beneficial and a great way to advance their careers. Referring them to the right people opens the door for them to seek out new opportunities, possibly future mentoring opportunities.

6. Hold Mentees Accountable and Let Them Make Their Own Decisions

The role of a good mentor is not only to support and guide the mentee but also to help the mentee become more independent and make better decisions. In most mentoring relationships, the mentor is the more experienced professional and while it feels like the easiest approach is to tell the mentee what to do, it's never the best option.

As a mentor, you must hold mentees accountable for their learning and improvement and help them develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed on their own. You have to let your mentee learn from their mistakes and be willing to step back for them to do so.

7. Get To Know Your Mentee

As mentioned, mentoring is a very personal relationship and the most successful ones are always built on trust. If you want to be the best mentor, you need to know your mentee and genuinely care about their lives. Take the time to get to know them, ask lots of questions, and listen to what they have to say.

Without knowing the person, it's difficult to give effective advice. You need to get to know them on a more personal level. Mentoring is usually focused on career progression, but it doesn't hurt to understand a little more about their backstory and what makes them who they are.

8. Find Helpful Resources for Your Mentee

To help mentees succeed and reach their goals, they should look for resources that increase their chances of success. Carefully listen to what areas they want to develop further and actively seek out opportunities and resources that might help.

From sharing new podcasts that you found to help them develop their leadership skills to sending out links to student mentees that contain information about internships they would be perfect for, assists the mentee on their learning journey.

9. Celebrate Their Achievements

Most people look for mentors during difficult times. Maybe they want to change your career path completely, or maybe they're having problems at work. Either way, the challenges they face can cause stress and anxiety, which is why it's so important to celebrate their successes and growth.

When you take the time to celebrate all the good they've accomplished, you show them you care and motivate them to continue their efforts. A simple message or card >goes a long way. When your mentee looks up to you as a role model, they will often seek your approval, so you need to acknowledge their success.

Summary

Now you know our top tips for being the best mentor, we hope you use some of these at your next mentoring meeting. From celebrating their achievements to providing networking opportunities for your mentee, these are some simple but effective ways you can help your mentee on the path to victory.

Mentoring is all about helping others grow and develop, so it is very important to make the experience as good as possible and keep the mentee engaged and motivated.

If you'd like to learn more about mentoring, or become a mentor and change someone's life, join PushFar today. We are the world's leading mentoring and career development platform with over 100,000 members on our open network, all passionate about achieving their goals and going the extra mile.