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“Am I doing enough?” asked the Mentors of the hospital’s emerging leaders.
Their question stunned me because:
- The Mentees in the program had just shared with me in a separate meeting that they were getting so much value from their Mentors already, and
- The Mentors are the hospital’s executives… their insecurity was refreshing if not slightly surprising.
In its purest form, mentoring occurs when one person advises, guides, and supports another to help them professionally grow and develop.
However, Mentors – especially high-functioning, problem-solving, get-stuff-done leaders – often feel inclined to do more to support the success of their Mentees.
Beyond doling out advice, what could you do to improve your experience as a Mentor while nudging, not judging your Mentee?
Here are 10 advanced mentoring techniques that you can use to up-level your mentoring and amplify your influence:
- Strategic Inquiry: ask probing, open-ended questions to sharpen critical thinking skills and help your Mentee generate their own insights (ex: “What would happen if you…?”)
- Pattern Recognition: instead of focusing on single incidents, identify repeating patterns (“I’ve noticed in our last three conversations that you…”)
- Cognitive Reframing: help your Mentee reframe mistakes and setbacks as growth opportunities (“What can you learn from this?”)
- Role Playing: work through forthcoming situations with a role-play exercise to provide real-time feedback and perspective
- Stretch Challenges: assign your Mentee a “stretch” project or experience slightly beyond their comfort zone, and provide scaffolding (support, feedback, a safety net) while your Mentee takes the lead, building confidence and capabilities
- Reflective Storytelling: share with your Mentee personal experiences of failure, recovery, and resilience to normalize struggle and highlight learning (“Here’s what happened to me when I was in a similar situation…”)
- Network Brokering: expand your Mentee’s visibility by strategically connecting them with other leaders or peers to grow their network and accelerate their leadership readiness
- Reverse Mentoring: ask your Mentee for advice to boost their confidence and create mutual learning, or encourage your Mentee to mentor a less-tenured colleague
- Shadowing: invite your Mentee to observe you or other leaders on the job, and observe your Mentee in action to provide valuable feedback
- Sponsoring: nominate your Mentee for opportunities on projects, committees, or new roles in the organization
When you want to make a difference beyond cheerleading and advice-dealing, experiment with an advanced mentoring technique to influence your Mentee’s behaviors, up-level their thinking, and catapult their confidence.
As Mentors, we can offer much more than “You should…”
© 2025. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved. |
