Introduction 


How to use this handbook

Mentorship has been around for a long time, and it's proven to
be one of the best ways to achieve personal and professional
growth whether you're a mentor or mentee.

We designed this Handbook to break down the different areas

of your role as a mentor and the best practices that will help
you drive a successful mentoring relationship. It's designed to
be easy to skim but also provide depth if you want to learn
more about a particular area. In addition, at the end of each
section, we've provided a further reading list for you to explore
if you want to go even further in your learning.

By using these mentorship Handbooks you'll be well prepared

to build a successful mentoring relationship.

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Table of What is a Mentor? 04

contents
What to know before 05
you’re a mentor

What type of mentor are you? 10

How to be a great mentor 16

Your first meeting 20

Decide on expectations 21

The do’s and don'ts of 22

relationship building

During your sessions 26

Guidelines for meetings 28

Conclusion 31
What is a mentor?

A mentor is someone who helps a mentee grow, develop, make decisions, and receive guidance for their future.
The mentor acts as a role model for the mentee, but mentoring relationships are beneficial to both parties.

Benefits to a mentee
It may feel that a mentor has to give value to another person and not receive some in return. However, that’s not
the case. You can think of the relationship between you, the mentor, and your mentee as an exchange.

Yes, your role is to help your mentee grow and learn, but this
is a great opportunity for you to learn as well. Being a mentor:
Drives self-awareness
Expands the mentor’s professional network
Improves leadership skills
Increases awareness of available talent throughout the organization
Increases likelihood of receiving a promotion
Increases visibility throughout the organization

Do you see that there’s a lot for you to

learn through this relationship?

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What to know before
you’re a mentor

Your role as a mentor

Mentorships exist to be a positive experience for both the mentor and mentee. Challenges can become opportunities
when you have someone who can reveal a different perspective.

At the beginning of the relationship, spending time clarifying what you can legitimately expect to give and get
through mentoring is essential. It is especially beneficial for the individuals involved to discuss, negotiate, and agree
upon expectations. We’ll go over expectations in its own section later on. But before that, let’s establish what
mentorship is and isn’t.

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What mentorship is and isn’t
It is essential that both you and your mentee understand what does and does not constitute a mentoring
relationship, as detailed below:

Mentoring is Mentoring is not

Development tool: Guarantee of promotion:

It is a development program that grows A mentoring relationship does not
knowledge, networks, and careers. For assure promotion or increase in
example, the process allows more compensation. However, both parties
experienced employees to support and may develop competencies and skills
develop other HIPO employees. that improve overall job performance.

Knowledge sharing opportunity: Replacement for formal

development:
It is a process that improves cross
functional knowledge sharing and M entoring cannot take the place of formal
facilitates the flow of information and training but rather should augment formal
ideas throughout the organization. development activities.

Organizational culture enhancer: Management replacement:

It can help employees better understand T he mentor should not take on the
the organization’s operations, policies, responsibilities of the mentee’s manager.
and culture.

P ersonal counselling:
Candid and specific:
It is best to seek help on personal issues
A good mentoring relationship provides from a life coach or mental health
honest and specific feedback and a route professional.
to growth.

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Difference between a mentor and a coach

Mentoring and coaching differ in their objectives, impacts, and durations, as detailed below:

Mentoring Coaching

Helps facilitate a culture of Assesses and improves an

growth and development within individual’s performance in

the organization a particular area

For example, a mentor can help mentees see For example, a coach could focus specifically

new opportunities within their organi ation z on speaking skills and how to improve them.

that they could laterally transition to. If this is They may not question why they want to get

z
multiped across do ens of mentors in an better at speaking, but the tactics that lead to

z
organi ation, more employees would be stronger presentations.

z
experts in more than one organi ation area.

Disproportionately benefits the

Concentrates on the individual’s person being coached

development needs and goals

For example, the coach isn’t there to get
based on their career aspirations
feedback on how they can be a better coach.

For example, a mentor doesn’t have a direct Instead, they are expected to be an expert in

'
motive to increase the mentee s performance. their domain and transfer that knowledge.

Instead, the mentor can determine what their

mentee’s individual goals are for their career and Time-bound relationship

help them work towards those goals without

The coaching relationship usually has a
thinking about their current position and KPIs.
timeline on what improvement is expected to

be seen. For example, a coach may decide

Mutually benefits both the mentor
that within six weeks, the mentee needs to
and mentee
be meeting specific KPIs or objectives within

The mentor also benefits from their relationship their role to demonstrate improvement.

with the mentee. For example, the mentee can

provide feedback that helps the mentor listen

-
better before they jump to problem solving.

Builds a long-term relationship

Many mentoring programs don’t end when

the sessions do. Many mentors and mentees

continue to check in with one another to

support them and keep them accountable to

-
their long term goals. For example, a mentor

-
could check in at the end of each quarter with

their mentee and check in on their progress

toward an ambition they set for themselves.

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Evaluation
A key difference between coaching and mentorship is the place of evaluation. Mentoring is non-evaluative, while
coaching is based on measuring performance change. Evaluation can be through company performance reviews
or tests. For this reason, mentors shouldn't be direct supervisors or managers of the mentee.

Who drives the relationship?

The mentee drives mentoring; coaching is the opposite. The mentee sets the relationship goals and comes to
their mentor with the problems they want to solve. In coaching, the coach or supervisor is driving the agenda for
the relationship. The relationship is about performance. The coach is helping the mentee reach a specific goal or
develop a particular skill.

Mentoring is highly personalized; coaching is repeatable.

In mentoring, a mentee has specific needs and needs to discuss challenges that are not necessarily tied to
company-wide, top-down performance initiatives. Mentoring also carries the benefit of building your network
by meeting multiple mentors and making new connections. Mentoring in this way is particularly helpful when
onboarding new employees.

In coaching, the organization identified a specific skill gap, and one or more coaches are selected to provide
a generalized program to make improvements. Thus, content is reused and generalized, and a coach
wouldn’t typically be a networking opportunity for a coachee.

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Further reading

If you want to go deeper on the topics discussed above, 


we have resources on our website that unpack them further.

They include:

What is the Difference Between Modern mentoring

Mentorship and Coaching?

How to be a good first- What is the Purpose of Mentoring?

time manager

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What type of
mentor are you?

Mentorship can take different forms. As a mentor, you may feel that you are more active in problem-solving
issues with your mentees. Other mentors may be better listeners who provide the guidance needed for their

mentees to conclude themselves.

Here are eight different types of mentors. Which one best describes you?

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1. Advisor
An advisor is someone who makes suggestions and recommendations on what their mentee should do.
Advisors also give advice based on their professional expertise and personal experience. Mentee’s who want to
follow the same path would do well with an advisor.

Here’s where advisors are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Acts as a sounding board and facilitator Fixes problems for you

Maintains privacy/confidentiality Assumes responsibility for mentee

2. Developer
A developer is similar to a coach but is an observer without specific goals for performance improvements.
Developers are good listeners and will point out red flags they recognize in their mentees. Likewise, if a mentee
displays positive qualities like honesty, humility, or critical thinking a developer will make sure to point them out
and commend them.

Here’s where developers are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Gives structure and direction Dictates, controls learning

Provides guidance based on observations Looks for quick-fixes
during interactions with mentee Provides general criticism or judgment
Empowers mentee to handle his/her problems Tells mentee what to do
independently

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3. Broker
A broker is great at connecting their mentee with opportunities to grow. Rather than discussing possibilities
for growth, a broker will determine what their mentee wants to learn and then connect them with whoever is
an expert in that area. Brokers are great mentors for mentees who are less inclined to talk a lot but are hungry
to pursue learning opportunities.

Here’s where brokers are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Identifies skill or competency gaps Allows for personal biases

through a “third party” lens Abdicates, does not follow up
Identifies and facilitates development
opportunities

4. Challenger
A challenger thrives on tough love and playing the devil’s advocate. They won’t stand for poor attitudes or faulty
logic. They will push back on their mentees if they begin to complain about their challenges without considering
possible solutions. Mentees that want someone to “tell them how it is” will thrive under these mentors. However,
they may need thicker skin.

Here’s where challengers are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Positively provokes, pushes toward Pushes too far too soon

highest standards Discounts mentee’s thoughts and opinions
Helps mentee explore potential career
opportunities

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5. Clarifier
A clarifier is a great companion to their mentee. A mentee who is independent and can pursue their growth
without much direction would benefit from a clarifier. A clarifier will quickly be able to fill the gaps in the
mentee’s knowledge based on their own experience within the organization. They can lean on their mentor if
the mentee needs to know how to act at an upcoming board meeting.

Here’s where clarifiers are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Teaches organizational values and politics Removes obstacles so mentee does not
have to deal with organizational politics

6. Affirmer
An affirmer is great for mentees that respond well to a soft shoulder. Rather than tough love, affirmers are great
listeners. If a mentee is going through a stressful situation they can trust that their mentor will be there to talk
through it with them.

Here’s where affirmers are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Gives needed support, enhances Gives too much feedback

self-esteem Discounts mentee’s feelings or concerns
Exhibits empathy and understanding

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7. Sponsor
Sponsors help their mentees meet the people who will make the difference in their careers. They have large
networks and credibility. By having their recommendation for promotions or new opportunities, these
mentees will gain access to professional growth much faster than if they were on their own.

Here’s where sponsors are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Provides visibility and recognition Promotes mentee at the expense of others

of mentee

8. Protector
A protector is great for a mentee who is in the midst of a transition which can be stressful and have some risk.
Protectors help prepare their mentees for growth by making sure they don’t make any mistakes that would be
detrimental to their careers.

Here’s where protectors are effective and ineffective:

Effective Ineffective

Supports, is a safety net Fights mentee’s battles

Ensures a safe environment to take risks Overprotects

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Further reading

If you want to go deeper on the topics discussed above, 


we have resources on our website that unpack them further.

They include:

What is the Purpose of Different types of mentoring How to Mentor Someone

Mentoring? and their uses At Work

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How to be a great mentor

Skills and qualities of great mentors

There are several characteristics that you need to have to be a good mentor. These include

Motivation
Communication Skills
Enjoy Learning
Team Player
Committed
Positive Attitude

These characteristics express themselves differently in professional settings.

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Here are some of the things that will qualify you as a good mentor.

Skilled and experienced in the field and industry

Mentors who have worked in their area of expertise for some time and who have
gained experience with the company will be a good fit for mentees wanting to follow
their same path. A mentor can share what they know about their job, how they fit into
the organization and share insights about their industry. In addition, you’ll have the
unique ability to groom your successor or prepare a new manager in your department.

Desire or motivated to share wisdom

Good mentors are those that not only have gained lots of knowledge and experience
but are also motivated to share what they know with others. In particular, they must
understand and respect the mentor-mentee relationship and take the workplace
mentoring program seriously.

Commitment to extra responsibility

Being a mentor can take time and energy. To be an effective mentor, you’ll need to be
committed to putting in the extra time and effort. It’s your responsibility to demonstrate
an understanding of what you are committing to and be willing to do what it takes to
help make the relationship, and ultimately, the mentoring program work.

Positivity
Good mentors are positive people. If you accept the responsibility of being a mentor but
do so grudgingly, your mentee won’t feel comfortable opening up about their goals and
challenges. It’s beneficial to see the glass as half full and have an optimistic view of what
the relationship can provide.

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Communicator
One of the most critical factors in a mentoring relationship is good communication.
Therefore, someone who has proven they can communicate positively and
effectively will be a good mentor. In addition, you will need to provide guidance
and give constructive feedback to the mentee. Thus, it is essential to know how to
do so in a constructive way.

They find fulfillment in their job

To pass along your knowledge and encourage the mentee to grow in their field
and organization, you should enjoy what you do. If you’re not interested in your
field of expertise, you’re not going to develop enthusiasm in the mentee.

Enjoys learning
Mentors that enjoy learning and are well-informed about their field will make the best
mentors. These are those individuals who continuously learn about the changes and
innovations happening in the industry. They read journals and attend workshops and
other training sessions to stay ahead of the game. A person who is up-to-date about
the field will pass along that information to the mentee.

Team player
Individuals who can work well independently and contribute to a team effort will also
be good choices for mentoring programs. These employees are often skilled at sharing
and with and listening to others. They usually value others and understand the
importance of being part of a team in the workplace.

Emotionally intelligent
Emotionally intelligent people have a good understanding of their own emotions
and know how to be sensitive to others. This skill helps a mentor relate better to
the mentee. In addition, they are often empathetic and can see things from another
person’s perspective.

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Further reading

If you want to go deeper on the topics discussed above, 


we have resources on our website that unpack them further.

They include:

Who Can Be a Mentor?

Different types of mentoring
and their uses

Develop Leadership Skills How to Mentor Someone At Work

with a Mentor

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Your first meeting

How to create the foundation for a trusting relationship

Use the following questions to guide your first mentoring conversation, which will help you get to know one
another and establish mutual expectations and goals. Then, note both parties’ responses for future reference.

Questions to understand their background:

What is your educational and professional background (including your current role and how long you have
been with the organization)?
What are your greatest strengths? Greatest weaknesses?
What are your short-term career goals? Long-term career goals?
What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?

Questions to get a sense of what your partner is expecting:

What do you see as my role as your mentor?
What ground rules should we set (e.g., confidentiality, openness, honesty)?
What topics are off-limits (e.g., performance reviews, personal lives)?
What do you think will be challenging about this relationship?
Are there any topics of urgent interest?
What topics do you want to cover in our conversations?
What do you hope to gain from this relationship?
How do you prefer to communicate between meetings?
When is the best time for you to meet?

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Your first
Decide onmeeting:
expectations

For the relationship to be fruitful, mentors and mentees should define their roles and expectations of one
another. What do they expect from one another? Should your sessions be more casual or formal? You should
decide beforehand.

Here are some expectations to agree upon:

Core performance expectations

Be willing to discuss failures and successes
Demonstrate a genuine interest in being helping the mentee
Demonstrate application of learning obtained through the relationship
Exhibit a desire to improve in a specific area or learn a new skill
Identify professional development goals, priorities, and career interests
Listen actively
Provide honest feedback
Seek ways to achieve objectives and contribute ideas for solving particular problems

Time commitment obligations

Be accountable for scheduling meetings with mentee
Be respectful of mentee’s time and schedule
Commit the requisite time and energy
Do the necessary pre-work for mentoring conversations
Follow up on action items identified during development conversations
Informally communicate regularly with your mentee

Will you be a mentor outside of the sessions as well?

Attend mentoring-related meetings and events
Maintain privacy/confidentiality of development conversations
Provide input to assess and improve the mentoring program
Take advantage of organizational resources
Track development and career progress

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The do’s
Your firstand
meeting:
don'ts of
relationship building

The stronger the connection between the mentor and mentee, the more each of you stands to benefit. Knowing
some of the do’s and don’ts of mentorship can help keep you both on the right track.

Do’s

Engage the mentee by listening and goal-setting

You shouldn’t shy away from getting advice. Providing constructive feedback helps bring the
mentee closer to their goals. For example, if a mentee shares that their goal is to be a manager of
a department one day, a good mentor would take the time to understand why they want that
position. That example is different from immediately outlining all the steps the mentee would
need to follow to get that position.

Point your mentee in the right direction

You can encourage mentees to take advantage of any advice or opportunities that you provide.
These could be opportunities such as helpful workplace programs to advance skills or external
opportunities for training. Of course, you can’t know everything, so sometimes it’s better to
suggest training for the mentee rather than taking that burden on yourself. For example, the
mentor may encourage a mentee to take a master class in sales to improve their objection
handling skills. The mentee would, in turn, report back with their newly developed skills and
share them with both their mentor and their team.

Celebrate with the mentee

Another important element of the mentor-mentee relationship is establishing a connection
with one another. A mentor can and should celebrate with the mentee when a goal or
accomplishment has been achieved. For example, a mentor may remind themselves to
congratulate their mentee on applying what they learned in a master class on objection
handling during a successful sales call.

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Show them the ropes
From a business perspective, one of the most valuable factors of the mentor-mentee relationship is the
opportunity to shape another employee and encourage them to develop productive habits. In addition,
by educating the mentee on workplace expectations, the mentor can positively impact not just the
relationship but also the organization long-term. For example, a mentor may have their mentee shadow
them as they meet with other teams so they can understand the team culture.

Be a teacher and a guide

Essentially, the mentor’s role is both a teacher and a guide. They are responsible for shaping the
mentee’s professional development. They must acknowledge the expectation to be a positive role
model. By demonstrating to the mentee how to adhere to the corporate policies and requirements,
they will help enhance the mentoring relationship. For example, a mentor could guide them
through how to address workplace violations constructively.

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Don’ts

Talk more than you listen

Communication is key to working together, and if you cannot communicate well with your mentee, it
could be a bad sign. Your role is as a teacher and a guide, not as a lecturer. It’s important to remember
that their career doesn’t have to be the same as yours. For example, listening first and then responding
is better than telling them all they should do without considering their goals.

Discredit their goals and ambitions

A great mentor will know how to balance providing critical feedback and supporting a mentees
goals. Your role is not to approve or deny their decisions but to help them make sure they have
confidence in those decisions after discussing them with you. For example, a mentor could discredit
their mentee’s goals by saying that they’re not good enough and that they should have different
goals instead, possibly goals more in line with the different goals instead, possibly goals more in line
with the mentor’s career trajectory.

Provide vague or unactionable feedback

Few things are as frustrating as getting negative feedback that is unclear and doesn’t provide
actionable ways to improve. If you become aware of a way of thinking, a behavior, or anything else
that could have negative ramifications on your mentee, make sure you acknowledge it. For example,
a mentor may say that the way a mentee approaches a problem is short-sighted and doesn’t
consider long-term consequences. What long-term consequences are they not considering? A good
mentor would tell them before it’s too late.

Be overly positive
As a mentor, you will learn how to deliver feedback. Hopefully, you will understand when to be frank
and blunt or gentle and sensitive when you provide feedback. One of the downfalls of peer
performance reviews is that you have an incentive to remain positive because you’ll have to continue
working with them. For example, a mentor may smooth over negative feedback about their mindset
around a particular problem. Doing so would be a disservice to them because it could negatively
impact their future. But we all have things we need to work on, and in a mentor mentee relationship, the
mentee’s goal is to grow. That growth may require them to confront some negative mindsets or habits.

Break trust
This may be obvious, but it is of the utmost importance to respect your mentee’s privacy and respect
their trust in you. Use your discretion, but do not share causally private details of your relationship. For
example, don’t share in a team standup what challenges your mentee is facing without their permission.
They shared that challenge in confidence. Your relationship with your mentee is built on trust. Respect
that fact and don’t do anything to jeopardize the trust your mentee has in you.

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Further reading

If you want to go deeper on the topics discussed above, 


we have resources on our website that unpack them further.

They include:

Getting the Most Out of How to Build a Successful

a Mentoring Relationship Mentor Relationship

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During your sessions

How to cultivate a successful mentoring relationship

Be active
Mentees and mentors need to be actively involved in the relationship. Mentees
need to define goals, seek out advice, attend meetings and ask questions. Mentors
are responsible for offering advice, guiding goal achievement and encouraging a
mentee to develop their skills and networks.

Get a good match

Finding a good mentor-mentee match doesn’t mean you should connect two similar
people. Sometimes the best mentorship is between participants who are opposite of
each other. The two can challenge each other in new ways and help them
understand different perspectives.

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Develop trust
Trust is crucial to a mentoring relationship. Yet, it can also take some time to build
trust between a mentor and mentee. Start your mentorship with a getting-to-know-
you-style meeting. In this first session, both the mentor and mentee should exchange
information about their backgrounds and interests. Refer to the section, How to create
the foundation for a trusting relationship for more information on this. Slowly, as the
relationship progresses, you can share more information, leading to more trust.

Have guidelines
Every relationship has a set of “rules” that govern it. For example, a mentorship
should have some clear guidelines regarding behavior and responsibility of the
participants. Early on in your relationship, both the mentor and mentee need to set
some rules about their roles. Share what you both expect from the other person.
Also, consider what you bring to the relationship. How can you help cultivate a
successful connection?

Set goals
A big part of the job for mentees is to define the goals they want to accomplish
during the mentorship. While this includes the career development steps they want
to achieve, it is also important to understand what you want from the mentorship. By
identifying these goals early, it can help clarify the type of mentor you should be. For
example, are they looking to network, gain new skills, or get advice on significant
career decisions?

Communication
In the mentorship context, the mentor needs to provide constructive criticism rather
than harsh judgment. They should be sensitive to the mentee’s feelings. The mentee
also needs to be able to express themselves clearly. If they feel that a mentor does not
understand something or offering advice that they are not comfortable with, a mentee
should say so in a diplomatic way.

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Guidelines for meetings

Prioritizing meetings with your mentee throughout the relationship is critical for both to benefit fully from
the relationship. Ensure a productive, successful relationship by implementing the following guidelines:

1. Prepare a day before the meeting using your agenda

If you’re using Together’s platform you’ll have access to an agenda that will also be emailed to you before
each meeting. Be sure to come prepared to the meeting by reviewing the Before & During notes to have a
more effective mentorship session.

2. Identify next steps after each meeting

Set next steps at the end of each discussion and clarify who is responsible for each of them. You can leverage
the Shared Notes functionality in Together’s platform or create an “Action Item” for your partner. If follow-up
poses a challenge for either of you, use the opportunity to problem-solve together.

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3. Follow up
After each meeting, use the Shared Notes functionality to describe how you benefited from the conversation;
ask him/her to share his/her thoughts too.

4. Set reminders for yourself to share resources

Set a reminder on your calendar to send an interesting article to your mentee each Friday. You can add these
directly to Shared Notes in the Together platform.

5. Don’t forget important events

Note important personal events in your mentees’ lives, such as their birthday and anniversary date with the
organization. In addition, you can use your Personal Notes for any remindersor items you’d like to keep top of
mind during your mentorship sessions.

6. Share with them upcoming educational events

Attend educational events (internal and external) together, such as lectures, talks, and discussions.

7. Reflect and share what you’ve learned together

One of the best ways to learn is through taking time to reflect on where you’ve come. In the moment challenging
feedback can be hard to swallow. It’s only aftward that we realize how helpful it was. In those cases, share with
one another how you help one another grow. That’s what the program is all about.

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Further reading

If you want to go deeper on the topics discussed above, 


we have resources on our website that unpack them further.

They include:

Tips for Effective Common mentoring challenges How to Build a Successful

Mentoring at Work Mentor Relationship

Building an authentic connection

when mentoring

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Conclusion

We hope this Handbook has and will continue to help you in your mentoring relationship. The Handbook's

purpose is to provide a starting point for developing strong and fruitful relationships with your mentee.

The tactics and recommendations can all be reduced to clear communication, transparency, and a growth

mindset. If you have those qualities when you meet with your mentee, you'll be well positioned to help them,

and yourself experience growth, both personally and professionally.

See our software in action

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potential mentoring and learning programs.