What does a good mentoring relationship look like?

At ExRe we believe that a good mentor is an honest and trusted critical friend, available to provide transparent advice, delivered in a personal, supportive and inclusive manner. A good mentor is emotionally intelligent, forthcoming when sharing their own experiences (strengths and weaknesses) and assumes nothing about the mentee, rather, asking questions to ensure they see things from the other persons perspective.

At ExRe we believe that a good mentee is committed to the process, a good listener, proactive, reflective, ambitious, eager and willing to learn.

Every mentor/mentee relationship, is unique. When you first start out, it’s important to take the time to assess your own styles of communication, and think about what kind of commitment you can each realistically make. By setting and sharing these expectations together in the very beginning, you will ensure that the relationship is transparent, equal and designed to suit both your needs. 

A mentor/mentee relationship is a very personal one. Over 6 months you will get to know each other well, in order to give and receive helpful, nuanced and targeted advice/feedback you need to connect on a personal level.

It is important to recgonise the power of the two-way discourse, acknowledging that the mentor will not always have ‘the answer’ and the mentee is not obliged to ‘take the advice’ - this process is one of co-discovery. From a good mentor/mentee relationship both parties will benefit, learn and grow from the experience.