Mentorship
Have you had any past mentor/mentee experience in the past? What worked? What didn't? Reflect on how you could incorporate any successful skills or activities into your time as a mentor.
Comments & Events
Amy Bettano
When I first graduated with my Masters I was in a fellowship program where I was assigned an official mentor. From both a personality and career perspective I got lucky in that I aligned very well with my mentor (and this obviously helped with the overall mentor/mentee relationship). What I liked most were that we had a set time when we met every month, and that we did it away from the typical work setting (at the café in the office so we were not in a meeting room or at a desk) - this allowed us to have more of an informal relationship and the mentor was able to make it clear that we were working on what would benefit me and my career development, regardless if that was what the organization would ultimately want (such as moving on to another job). It also allowed us to have more chitchat during the meetings which helped to build the trust I had in our relationship. Having completed this module in CSTE, I wish I had been more direct in leading topics for discussion such as by setting up agendas for the meetings to make sure that I got the most possible out of it.
Though I don't have anyone that I am formally mentoring, in my direct report I see the opportunity for an informal mentor/mentee relationship if they were interested. While I feel my direct report and I already have a strong relationship, I would like to take more time outside of the office (maybe taking them for coffee on the day we are both in in-person) so we could connect on their personal career goals and what I could better do to support them.