9 ways to improve your mentoring experience

By Darren Stones, Mentor, Schools Mentoring Australia

A few thoughts about mentoring:

• Be prepared to role play
• As a mentor, let the mentee explore what truly drives them
• As a mentee, be clear in what you want from the mentoring process
• As a mentor, encourage the mentee to do research - it empowers them
• As a mentee, be willing to be challenged by your mentor
• As a mentor, be prepared to be challenged
• As a mentee, ask your mentor what they would do in a situation
• As a mentor, listen and take notes
• As a mentee, listen and take notes

The mentoring process is mutually beneficial to both mentee and mentor. Both learn about the mentoring process. As a mentee, you will learn how to become a mentor yourself. Mentoring can be formal and informal. It's all around you. You may be learning something new every day.