Having a productive mentor/mentee relationship is an important part of any successful business, educational or personal development journey. It can be daunting to think about entering into such an arrangement because it requires the participants to have certain skills and abilities in order for it to be successful. To ensure a productive relationship between mentor and mentee, both parties need to develop certain skills that will help them best serve each other.
The first skill needed for a successful mentor/mentee relationship is communication. Both members must be able to effectively communicate their feelings and ideas with one another in order for there to be progress made during the sessions (Estrada & Marques-Quinteiro, 2018). The ability of both parties involved to express themselves openly without judgement creates an environment where trust can grow which helps not only the mentor but also the mentee who may have formed anxiety over sharing such intimate details about themselves or their ideas. Aside from being able to communicate both verbally and nonverbally, active listening is essential in this type of relationship as well; by fully listening, understanding and validating what your partner has said you are showing respect as well as helping create a bond which allows either party feel more comfortable with exploring deep topics (Kinnunen et al., 2017).
Discuss what skills you feel you need to develop or further develop to be able to have a productive Mentor/Mentee relationship.
Problem solving is another necessary skill when building a productive mentor/mentee relationship. As two people come together with different backgrounds, experiences and solutions they must learn how they can work together while still respecting their individual perspectives on matters (Christensen et al., 2019). This particular skill requires empathy—the ability to understand how someone else feels—as well as conflict resolution techniques so that any issues that inevitably arise do not become insurmountable obstacles (Dalton & Metzger, 2017). Additionally mentors should try teaching problem solving strategies early on so that mentees can become better equipped at dealing with these types challenges alone without relying solely on the support from their mentors in order for them make progress towards achieving their goals.
Finally patience must also be developed when working towards having a productive mentor/mentor relationship since it takes time for trust between individuals form organically; this means allowing space for mistakes so that we may learn from our missteps rather than punishing ourselves harshly before moving forward (Cervone et al., 2020) . Building on this idea mentors should also encourage consistent self-reflection within both individuals which includes being honest when discussing successes as well as failures throughout the process which will give insight into how each person’s perspective shapes our unique journeys through life making us all stronger along the way if done properly(Muñoz et al., 2018).