Use these simple tips to make a difference by mentoring others.

What’s your experience of mentoring?

Mentoring is a great way to progress your own development, while also making a difference by passing your expertise onto others. This can be technical, management or leadership experience.

To be an effective mentor, you must have the genuine desire to help as well as experience or skills that your mentee is looking for. Here’s how to be a great mentor:

• Have the desire to help – be willing to spend time helping someone else and share your knowledge, practical experience and wisdom freely!

• Be motivated to develop yourself – to help others develop, you must value your own growth too. You also benefit by enhancing your skills in coaching, interpersonal communication, understanding people and valuing differences.

• Tell stories confidently – telling stories about your first-hand experience helps mentees benefit from your learnings and look at a situation from a new perspective.

• Ask open questions – ask questions that make the mentee do the thinking. Think of what you want to tell the mentee, and find a question that will help the mentee come to the conclusion on their own.

• Listen actively – observe body language, maintain eye contact, and understand which topics are difficult for the mentee to discuss. Truly listening is a valuable skill. It shows that you value what the mentee is saying and that you won’t interrupt them. This requires patience, and a willingness to delay judgement.

• Give feedback and advice – use feedback to show that you understand what the mentee’s thinking approach has been and how this may or may not help them in the future. This is key to helping the mentee see a situation from a fresh perspective.