Be a Mentee
“I have a mentor.”
“I’m in a mentor/mentee relationship.”
“I’m going to meet with my mentor.”
These phrases sound quite official and rarely do you hear them in a normal conversation.
Instead, you may hear…
“Yea, *insert name* is really wise and personable.”
“We’ve been going out to grab coffee more recently.”
“I’m going to meet with a friend.”
I think that we’ve all built expectations associated with mentor/mentee relationships. It is easy to think a mentor will give you every tip you need to navigate life, your mentor will be your best friend or you do not directly affect your mentor. However, those statements are not true.
A mentor/mentee relationship is a natural progression in a relationship based on trust. As a mentee, you are poured into by someone who may have more experience or a unique perspective, but you are still active in the relationship. It’s not enough to just show up. Mentees have to be open to listening and ready to share.
So how does a mentee contribute to their mentor/mentee relationship?
It starts with trust.
Do you trust your mentor to know where they have come from and what experiences they have? Being open to listening is how you build a relationship. Have a two-way conversation.
Don’t discredit what you have to say.
Often we think that a mentor may not care about the random thoughts we have because they have so much more experience and better, deeper thoughts. You have valuable opinions and reasoning. Enlighten your mentor and that will open the door for them to enlighten you.
Be ready to share.
Where do you think your mentor learned how to be a good mentor? From being a mentee. Don’t keep what you learn inside your heart. Take it with you and find someone else to pour into. Be a mentor and a mentee at the same time. For a mentor, there are few things cooler than when your mentee pours into someone else and takes the initiative to start their own mentor/mentee relationship.
Finally, mentoring doesn’t have to be forced. It’s a friendship, so leave out the unnecessary expectations of your mentor leading you to success and instead, get ready to take what you learn and pour it into somebody else.
Rebekah Hisle
Rebekah Lynn Hisle is a junior from Saint Joseph, Mich., majoring in public relations and minoring in sports marketing and writing. Rebekah is an associate with Fifth Street Communications ®, a student-run public relations agency at Anderson University.