Professional Mentoring Unpicked #3

This is the promised next blog in a series where I’m unpicking each of the previously defined aspects of professional Mentoring (see my earlier articles and blogs on this).

The overarching description says, “This relationship is typically characterized by trust, open communication, mutual respect, and a focus on the Mentee's goals and development”.

So, let’s unpick Key Aspect 3: Focus on the Mentee's Development

“The relationship is centred on the Mentee's specific needs, goals, and aspirations. It's not about the Mentor's agenda.”

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

And the critical Mentor skill here is listening.

For the Mentor/Mentee relationship to be fruitful and for the Mentee to get the benefit of the conversations with the Mentor, there must be a mutual understanding of why they are happening in the first place.

There must be clearly articulated ‘Success Factors’ agreed, whereby both parties are clear about the Mentee’s goals. And there must be an agreement as to what the shift will be, and how that change has moved the dial towards or has achieved the Mentee aim.

They key point here is that the Mentee owns the outcomes. The role as an independent Mentor is to help them along the path to achieving those, to suggest, challenge, support and encourage them to realise their ambitions.

How.

After an initial – and free – exploratory conversation and agreement to proceed, I share a template Mentoring Agreement document with the client and ask them to populate it before our first session, in terms of Purpose: Why are we entering into this relationship?, and Success Criteria: What will success look like?, wherein the Mentee can articulate their aims and aspirations.

I review this doc for alignment with the discussion we had in the exploratory session, suggest any tweaks and/or seek clarity about their intent, and finally we agree the number of sessions needed and over how long a period.

This is a dynamic document and is open to change at any time in the relationship, as successes are achieved or change, Mentee insights unfold and new goals are added.

As the overarching description says, “It’s not about the Mentor’s agenda”.

Then the work begins. More on this later.

Finally:

I see a lot of talk in L&D and HR about Mentoring, mostly couched in terms of colleague or manager support. i.e. internal, business/employer focus. What I don’t see so much of is the role of the external, independent Mentor, with the additional advantage of more multi- and/or cross-sectoral experience and ideas.

That would be me.

Look out for my next article on the 4^th key characteristic of the professional Mentor - Skills, Knowledge, Career, and Personal Growth, next week.

#ProfessionalMentoring #PersonalDevelopment #LnD #HR #Mentor

Professional Mentoring Unpicked #1

I posted on Monday 25/08 about the key elements that underpinned the, for me,
most up to date and aligned description of modern professional mentoring available.  

These are: 

• Experienced and Trusted 
• Guidance, Support, and Encouragement 
• Focus on Mentee's Development 
• Skills, Knowledge, Career, and Personal Growth 
• Trust, Open Communication, and Mutual Respect 

And I said I'd post about and unpick each of them to test them for myself and with you. This is the first of those posts. 

 Experienced and Trusted 

“Mentors aren't just anyone; they bring valuable experience and have earned trust through their expertise and integrity.” 

Let’s unpick this… 

“Mentors aren't just anyone”. 

But they could be. And more of us should be. 

We all develop and bring our accumulated knowledge, skills and experience, both personal and professional, into and alongside our work and career. The older we get, the more of each we develop and employ. 

As colleagues, managers, learners, our behaviour makes an impact, whether we are aware of it or not. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not. 

But if we bring our full selves, behave with respect, openness, curiosity – and we deliver, and help others to develop, grow and deliver – then we are already mentors. You may be in that space already but just don’t know it yet. 

“They bring valuable experience and have earned trust through their expertise and integrity.” 

When I first announced I was starting my professional mentoring business, many in my network very kindly responded by amplifying and commenting on that post. 

Several endorsed the qualities they considered I would bring to the role of mentor and my client conversations and outcomes. They included “strategic insight, genuine care, perspective, calm guidance, executive-level mentor skills, depth of experience, humour and humanity, and wisdom. 

These accolades are not given lightly. 

They reflect years of graft, delivery and impact. They reflect years of learning, application and working with others in a consistent, open, honest and transparent manner. And thereby, trust has been earned. 

I’m already in conversation with several prospective and actual clients and I hope that they already feel that we are meeting in that respectful and impactive space. 

What's your thinking here? Anything missing? Any questions? Comments? I'd love to hear your views.

Next up, I'll unpick Key Element 2: Guidance, Support, and Encouragement 

In the meantime, if you think you, a colleague or friend would benefit from entering into such a professional mentoring relationship, feel free to contact me for a no-obligation exploratory chat.

Professional Mentoring Explored (first posted on LinkedIn 25/08/25)

A view along a railway platform through
the open slam door window of a train

hashtag

Before I started my #ProfessionalMentoring service in August, I challenged AI to give me 'the current and most accurate definition of a professional mentor'.

The resulting description that seemed to align most closely with my thinking was this...

"A professional mentor is an experienced and trusted individual who provides guidance, support, and encouragement to a less experienced person (the mentee) to help them develop their skills, knowledge, career, and personal growth within a professional context. This relationship is typically characterized by trust, open communication, mutual respect, and a focus on the mentee's goals and development."

I take exception to the description of the mentee as "a less experienced person" as I see the mentoring relationship encompassing all levels of professional experience. Indeed, I am already mentoring a couple of experienced peers.

That said, it's a pretty accurate summary of what I do.

There then followed a list of 'key aspects' which expand on the above.

* Experienced and Trusted

* Guidance, Support, and Encouragement

* Focus on the Mentee's Development

* Skills, Knowledge, Career, and Personal Growth

* Trust, Open Communication, and Mutual Respect

I'm going to do a short series of follow-up posts, taking each of those elements in turn, examining, expanding on and sense-checking them here and on LinkedIn.

Look out for these over the next few weeks.

And of course, I'll be grateful for any comments, experiences, challenges, feedback or enquiries.

hashtag#ProfessionalMentoring hashtag#LnD hashtag#Mentor