Mentoring 101 Guide to Obtaining Successful Results

Mentorship is not easy, but it is infinitely rewarding. First, let us examine the overall objective when mentoring candidates. The ideal outcome we are seeking for each of the candidates is a long prosperous and successful life both personally and professionally. Why personally and professionally? Let us be honest here, to be successful at home or at work requires stability and support in both environments. We cannot forget that mentorship is about building a well-rounded candidate. Yes, this is difficult; often we are approaching just the professional side of mentoring and there are many valid reasons why we often cannot help people in their personal lives. It is important to remember that it is not the job of a mentor to solve personal problems, but to help the candidates understand that they need to have a stable and supportive personal life. If this is not the case, then the mentor can guide the candidates toward professional help. Back to the objective, how do we define what prosperous and successful means? As a business professional, this is the ability to hand a candidate any task and have them successfully complete the task using the methodical problem solving thought processes that we have instilled in their minds throughout the mentoring experience.

Lets dig into the "build, bend and mold" process in more detail. Initially most candidates do not even know how to approach their tasks. By teaching candidates simple things like what search terms to use when beginning to research the task at hand, we can start them off at gathering the information required in their journey to a solution. Once they have this information, the solution is usually right there in front of them and they do not even realize it. Their instinct is to ask the mentor what to do next. This is typical, but here is another important opportunity to bend and mold the candidate. Instead of answering their question with the solution because it may seem obvious to us, the mentor should think about what questions they ask themselves to reach the solution. The mentor would then carefully guide the candidate using that series of questions. It is important to note this can often take hours, but it is very important that we begin building and molding the candidates thought processes toward problem solving on their own. This often also requires us to give encouragement to the candidate because initially they are not familiar with this type of environment or process, which results in frustration. By helping them work through the frustration, witnessing the satisfaction they gain from solving the first problem on their own is often far more rewarding for both the candidate and the mentor! Continue using this process on each task and the mentor should notice that they are needed less and less.

Repetition

Repetition is required to implant new skills. These new skills often seem difficult the first time and then become second nature once the candidate fully understands and executes these tasks. We have found it helpful to have the candidate repeat these skills at least three times spaced out roughly a week apart to ingrain the new skill. Isolated repetition is not required for those foundation skills that are then used as part of processes moving forward because repetition is inherently built into all processes moving forward.

Positivity

As a mentor, candidates feed off of our positive attitude! Mentors must maintain a positive attitude as it is contagious. Candidates have stepped outside of their normal comfort zone; consequently, it is easy for them to become discouraged. Be sure to constantly and positively reinforce the candidates as they continue learning and moving forward.

Managing Expectations

If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Mentors must constantly balance encouraging and inspiring the candidates (pulling them along) and challenging them (pushing them). This balance is achieved by honestly letting them know that Cultivation is not easy; however, those willing to invest enough time and energy can achieve success.

Problems are Opportunities

Mentors must change the way candidates perceive problems. Problems are opportunities for candidates to learn and advance their problem solving skills. Candidates should be taught to think long and hard about how they can transform each problem into an opportunity or gain some positive outcome from the experience, even if it is simply a lesson learned. If we approach problems differently, resisting our initial temptations and actions while focusing on the desired outcome, all of our energy is directed toward the desired outcome.

Road-Blocks

Road-blocks or excuses are often known as the easy way out. This behavior has become more prevalent in the past few years. It is critical that we do not accept this behavior from our candidates. Instead, we must teach them to think much harder or to take calculated risks in moving forward in uncharted territory to work toward a solution that bypasses or minimizes the road-blocks. Have the candidates ask themselves if this is really a road block and why? Often times we find them scurrying away to work on the problem when they think about it for a few minutes. This is one of the biggest bad habits we have to break in candidates! Management must immediately be made aware of true road-blocks and then candidates must move onto another aspect of the task, even if it requires some assumptions. Bottom line, it is rare that all work must stop on any given task. It is way too easy to make excuses; however, in creating successful candidates we must break this bad habit and mentor them to find solutions and not excuses!

Mentoring the unknown

It is ok to mentor candidates on problems you do not necessarily know how to solve. Yes this can be scary but we have failed in front of candidates before and will do so again because they get a far better human experience when they see us struggling but pushing through to solve a problem with them. Do not hide the fact that you do not know the solution. Instead show that you are willing to sit down and work with the candidate to help resolve the problem. This is yet another example of applying problem solving to achieve the end results.

Challenge Candidates

Give them increasingly larger and more difficult tasks. Be sure to help set them up for success by clearly communicating any deadlines and working closely with them to ensure that they are successful. Remember that early on candidates will require more help and this requirement should shrink over time. Be sure to allocate mentor time accordingly.

Effective and Efficient

Mentors must teach candidates tips and tricks that improve productivity and build a more effective and efficient candidate. Often times these are subtle tips and tricks but when they are applied over and over again they can make a huge difference. For example, information technology tends to be everywhere so we teach our candidates to be more effective and efficient in how they use information technology, including improving their typing skills and the use of keyboard shortcuts.

Technology

Technology is everywhere and fast moving, we must mentor our candidates to keep up with and embrace technology. Even in non-technology based positions, technology plays a large role in communications and day-to-day activities. Candidates must learn and stay current with technology. Please note that this does not mean that they have to be on the bleeding edge as early adopters!

Candidates Come First

In rare instances we have found ourselves in the position where we can nudge a candidate in one direction over another. In these instances, it is integral to take your corporate hat off and help nudge the candidate in the direction that truly helps the candidate. It is always best when decisions lead to a win-win for both the candidate and company, but in some instances this is not the case and mentors must side with the candidate. Why is this important? As a mentor candidates look up to and value your input, so mentors must be extra careful to maintain honesty and focus on the successful outcome of each candidate above and beyond everything!