FUNDAMENTALS OF EFFECTIVE MENTORING

Mentors need to possess three fundamental skills before they can implement the nine mentoring practices:

. Once people have met their basic survival needs, their motivation turns to personal fulfillment. Mentors need to understand their protégés’ ideas of what they need to have meaningful and fulfilling careers.

. Mentors must help mentees become aware of their strengths and weaknesses and guide them in developing plans for improvement.

. Empathy is the ability to understand someone else’s experience and engage effectively based on that understanding. Empathy can be cultivated by listening more than talking and asking open-ended questions.