The Rotary Club of Crawley

What is mentoring?

Mentoring is a partnership between two people (mentor and mentee). The mentor shares wisdom, gained from experience, to advance the mentee’s personal and professional development.

What does a mentor actually do?

Mentoring is not coaching, teaching or job shadowing and the mentor should never give direct, professional advice.   Their role is to question and challenge, while providing guidance and encouragement. By referring their protégé to resource materials or introducing them to new ways of thinking the mentor opens up pathways to try out ideas and work through problems.

How does it start?

When inducted to the club a new member fills out a fun, simple questionnaire. This  includes indicating if they are willing to become either a mentor or mentee, and if so, their area of expertise or need. Team Leaders facilitate the partnership and introductions.

Where and when are the meetings?

The mentee and mentor make mutually agreeable arrangements to meet but never in a private home. Mentoring can be a monthly lunch, a quarterly phone call, a weekly coffee, or merely a steady e-mail correspondence. A mentee simply discusses their issues, challenges or areas of concern and asks questions of the mentor as the need arises.

What about privacy and confidentiality?

All discussions must be treated as personal, private and strictly confidential.

Why be a mentor?

Most successful people had help along the way. As a mentor you can be a trusted guide to help someone find their way among complex options to get to the next level or provide the help to address a private, thorny issue. 

Mentee etiquette

When asking someone to be your mentor, explain why and what you’re asking for.  Look for ways you can reciprocate or at least acknowledge the help your mentor offers. Don’t become too dependent on your first mentor. Continue to think for yourself.  If you ask someone to be your mentor and that person refuses, don’t be hurt or offended. This is not personal! Good mentors are very busy people. Thank him or her for the consideration, and ask for a referral.