Business Mentoring Matters

In training we teach mentors that mentoring is about establishing a trustful relationship.  It's nice to see a mentor articulate this achievement. Here is a comment made by one of our client's mentor at a financial institution who really captures what mentoring is about:

"I felt I was really contributing to my mentoree's development. I saw mentoree take advice and have success. It was rewarding to see this and additionally, the level of conversation is different with a mentor than with staff. The mentoree really can ask questions without performance anxiety. I was excited to be able to see my advice working and rewarded by the fact that my mentoree wants to continue after the program is over."

This mentor understood that the relationship was very different from a managerial one and that this relationship allowed the mentoree to grow and succeed.  When a mentoree wishes to continue the relationship after the formal program, there can be no greater compliment for that mentor.

In my experience, about 80% of pairs continue some type of contact after the formal program is over.  This is a reflection on how well the pairs were able to establish a developmental, mentoring relationship.  What are the results in your program?  Are you getting this kind of feedback?  If not, what is missing in making your program more successful?