[Flash] Unmasking Mentees – The Invisible Power to Grow as You Go

At our booth, we attracted bedside nurses to nurse leaders with our “spin-it-to-win-it!” carnival game – everyone won a prize!

After they won, we offered them a gift – a mentoring ribbon to attach to their conference lanyard. We had three different ribbons, and to help them choose, we eagerly inquired, “Are you a Mentee, a Mentor, or a Mentoring Champion?”

Suddenly, the delight of winning a prize was replaced with bewilderment. The attendees stared, searching for an answer.

Eventually, they concluded, “I guess I’m a Mentor…” or “Sure, I’ll be a Mentoring Champion.”

But no one exclaimed, “I’m a Mentee!”

In fact, of the 900 ribbons we brought to the conference, we left with:

• 2 “Mentor” ribbons
• 2 “Mentoring Champion” ribbons
• 298 “Mentee” ribbons

Dropped into an unexpected social experiment, I paused to consider what happened:

• Are “Mentor” and “Champion” more impressive or more familiar?
• Were people confused by the word “Mentee”?
• Did “Mentee” feel somewhat remedial?
• Were people unclear about the value of declaring themselves a “Mentee”?
• Is “Mentee” laden with obligation and expectation?
• Perhaps they were missing context – aren’t “Mentees” found in mentoring programs not on the exhibit floor?

And just like that, I realized that my experiment was flawed. I assumed that everyone knew the why and what of being a Mentee!

Had we framed the interaction better, attendees would have been enthusiastically grabbing for the Mentee ribbons!

Using different questions, we could have educated people on the concept and decreased the apprehension, even amid a bustling conference exhibit hall!

• Do you show up to work committed to improving yourself?
• Are you growing your career competence and leadership confidence? 
• Do you connect with others to discover their insights and learn from their experiences? 

If we had taught attendees that a Mentee mindset is a learner mindset, a growth mindset, I’m confident we would have run out of “Mentee” ribbons!

Ironically, being a Mentee is about learning through our connections – precisely the benefit of attending a live conference!

In the future, with better questions and richer conversations, I know attendees will confidently effuse, “Yes! Yes! Yes! I’m a Mentee, a Mentor, and a Mentoring Champion!” Ultimately, aren’t we all?

© 2023. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved.