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Mentors and Coaches:
How to Be a Great Mentee or Learner
Neen James
When you invest your time in being a mentee you will be rewarded
with accelerated learning and experiences from your mentor.
You will learn from and avoid the mistakes that they may have
made, learn about your industry, meet great people, form valuable
relationships and be able to mentor someone in your future.
If your organisation offers a mentoring program, sign up and
get involved. If there isn't a formal mentoring program, suggest
one or identify people you would like to learn from and approach
them about mentoring you. If you are going to approach someone
about being your mentor make sure you present yourself professionally
and show your prospective mentor that you are serious and
committed by having a mentoring plan in place.
When I chose to become a professional speaker I sought out
the most talented Australian speaker I could find. He was
accomplished, fantastic presenter, had won many client and
industry awards and ran a profitable speaking business. I
asked him to mentor me and for 12 months I followed him everywhere.
I went to client meetings, sold books for him at the back
of the room when he presented, helped him on projects, worked
in his office, paid for interstate flights to get uninterrupted
discussions during travel time. Spending 12 months with him
accelerated my speaking career in an astronomical way, helped
me form valuable relationships and also lead to my next exciting
career move. I was a dedicated mentee and would do anything
to serve and learn.
Have a written agreed guideline. Make an agreement
between both parties of the responsibilities and commitments
of both parties.
Schedule for 6 months only. This gives you both an
agreed timeframe to achieve effective communication and sharing
of experience.
Meet monthly. Make a regular time each month for one
hour to meet. As the mentee you must fit in with the mentor's
schedule.
Set an agenda. Advise your mentor what you would like
to discuss, what challenges you have been facing and any questions
you may have. To assist you develop this agenda you may like
to keep the list on going through the month so you are very
prepared for your meeting.
If can't meet in person, book a teleconference. You
don't need to meet face to face (especially if your mentor
is busy). You should still have an agenda and clear outcomes
of what you want from the meeting.
Meet in a location that suits the mentor. Find locations
they enjoy being in i.e. the favourite coffee shop, airport
lounges or the beach. Make an effort to drive or commute to
the location that fits in with their schedule.
Do your homework. Your mentor might give you activities
to try or challenges for the next month. Always complete these
tasks and report back to your mentor on your success. Don't
waste your mentor's time or advice.
Promote your mentor to others. If you know of businesses
or opportunities for your mentor, always let others know about
their skills, achievements and success.
Thank your mentor with the gift of service. You could
assist them with a project, help in their business unit, driving
them to an event, and take them to the airport. Being a good
mentee is all about serving your mentor to create opportunities
to draw from their experience.
Do your homework on your mentor. Find out what they
like to listen to, what books they like to read, movies they
enjoy, family details. This helps you respond to them and
also thank them in ways that are important to them.
Maintain confidentiality. Keep all relevant discussions
between you and your mentor private. Never disclose to others
your discussions.
Make time. Find opportunities to support your mentor
and also debrief conversations. If they are driving for long
periods of time, keep them company (either face to face or
on the phone), if they are flying interstate for the day,
go with them and use the uninterrupted time on the plane to
gain wisdom and assistance.
Avoid contacting your mentor outside of agreed times.
If you both agree you will meet once a month, save all of
your discussions for this monthly meeting. If you need to
contact them try SMS messaging or email so you don't interrupt
their daily activities.
Try to outdo your mentor. Learn from their experiences,
view their templates but always try and develop your own work
even better than theirs. If you are successful, you could
share your new templates or ideas with them so you can add
value to their business by improving on their ideas or systems.
Never ask your mentor "What can I do for you?"
Always be creative and find ways to assist them without being
asked. Offer to do some data entry in their office, offer
to pick them up from the airport instead of them taking a
cab, and offer to help recruit staff for their business --
find ways to help them without expecting anything in return.
Neen James is a Global Productivity Expert: by looking
at how they spend their time and energy -- and where they
focus their attention -- Neen helps people to rocket-charge
their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author
and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your
productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her
unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen
delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more
at http://neenjames.com/
Article Source: www.articlesaz.com
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