I enjoy being a mentor and helping others on their career journey. Over the past year, I’ve been dedicating some time every week to make myself available as a mentor and here are some lessons learned on what makes mentorship sessions useful and some tips as an mentee…

Getting comfortable: Sharing a little about yourself (where you are from, what you are working on, etc) can help get over the intial awkwardness of sharing experiences that feel deeply personal. I like to tell folks a bit about my experience across various industries/companies and maybe something silly to help break the ice. It’s important to create a safe and comfortable space to talk freely.

Managing expectations: As a mentee, it’s important to come with an agenda or discuss something that is top of mind. If there isn’t anything going on, it’s okay to give time back. It’s always good to catch up on a personal level but having items to discuss will make the session more valuable for both of us.

Listen and share: As a mentor, it’s critical to take a step back and follow where your mentee wants to go – Don’t come in too hot saying “you should do this, or don’t do that!”. Sometimes you need to let them vent before providing advice. In that advice, I prefer to share my own personal experiences that were similar versus anything prescriptive.

Being asked for mentorship is a privilege and is a great way to connect and learn from others. I also get to learn a lot myself in these sessions from others experiences and is a great reminder to stay humble in your career by having compassion for others early in their career journeys.