A LETTER TO MY MENTEE…

Dear mentee,

Having a great mentor is one of the greatest things that can happen to you in life. Someone once said IF I SEE ANY FURTHER ITS BECAUSE I STOOD ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE THAT ARE AHEAD OF ME. So let me say a big congrats to you for signing up on this mentoring platform. I am sure this platform will afford you the opportunity to connect to a great mentor that will inspire, coach and will help bring the best out of you.

Dear mentee, my reason for writing this letter to you is to let you know how to get  the best from your mentor . The three things I will tell you in this letter I have found to be very important for every mentee to take note to make the best out of a mentor.

Dear mentee, you should have your goals. For every relationship to be beneficial, goals and expectations need to be set. I will not set your goals for you, I  can only help you refine and clearly define your set goals and objectives. To get the best from  me you will need to state your goals, career plans, the end you have in mind, and what you expect from this relationship. Never mind if the goals are not clear, don’t think about impressing me. You need to be yourself! Let me see your goals as unrefined, scattered and perhaps well set as they are. Let me be aware of things you are sure and unsure of about your career. As your mentor, I will help you clarify your goals, I will show you the red flags and green lights that I can see as a result of my experience and expertise. I will coach you, stretch you and help bring out the best in you. Really, I will not do the work for you, but with me you will get things done in a great way with very few mistakes.

My dear mentee, another thing I would love you to do is to follow through. I will give you instructions if need be. I would not force you to do them but I believe doing them will help you a great deal. I may even give assignments with or without deadlines for submission. I trust you to follow well enough to submit the assignments if I ask for them or not. This will make me know how willing you are to learn. Since it’s not a kindergarten class, I will not teach you the way you teacher taught you then. I however expect you to be observant and inquisitive. Your questions will make me speak from my depth of experience. You may even learn more from my answer to your questions. At some point you may feel you have learnt it all, but dear mentee I encourage you to remain teachable. At this point is where learning just started. I tell you calm down and learn more. For there is no great master who was not once an apprentice. My dear mentee you need to follow through

Finally my mentee, I expect you to periodically review and evaluate our relationship. Are the goals you have set being met? Are you learning from me or are you just passing time. I really want you to make the best of this relationship. So as time goes on feel free to discuss with me things you have learnt and how they have impacted on your career. This relationship is a learning relationship. If after your evaluation you feel your goals are becoming clearer, congrats, but don’t rest on your oars, it can always get better. However if you feel you are not learning enough after your evaluation, don’t be discouraged. Talk to me about the challenges you think you are facing and ask relevant questions. I can assure you that your  persistence will pay off.

So my mentee, I can assure you that if you will follow these simple steps, having a mentor will not just be a cliché for you, it will be a life changing experience for you!

I wish you all the best…

Your mentor.