[Flash] Friendship Advice to Boost Your Mentoring Success

1. Practice aggressive friendship
2. Tailor your plans
3. Be a little bit needy
4. Fit friendship into your existing routines
5. Be an engaged friend

Thoughtful advice to boost our mentoring as well!

1. Practice Aggressive Mentoring.

Catherine Pearson cites Dr. Richard Reeves, who advises, “Call, text, and arrange plans. Don’t worry about being a bit of a nag.”

Vigorously reaching out to connect demonstrates a fierce commitment to the relationship. When you persevere, you communicate your respect for your mentoring partner.

Don’t hesitate. Initiate! You can’t be on a mentoring journey without taking steps together.

2. Tailor Your Mentoring Plans.

Catherine Pearson recommends that we find out what our friends prefer to do when interacting and to intentionally incorporate those activities to help them invest and engage.

Similarly, in mentoring, when you discover your partner’s goals, intentions, and objectives, you can purposely structure and scaffold the mentoring journey accordingly.

3. Be a Little Bit Needy.

Catherine Pearson wrote, “Think about how joyous we’d feel if our friend asked us for help, and we were able to do it.”

Mentoring attracts those of us who tend to be contribution-motivated. We commit because we want to feel connected and valuable to others.

Whether you’re the Mentor or Mentee, ask for a little help. It will boost your mentoring partner’s confidence while fueling their need to contribute.

4. Fit Mentoring into your Existing Routines.

Catherine Pearson cites psychologist Eileen Kennedy-Moore, who declared, “Consistent contact is a crucial ingredient for friendship.”

Mentoring happens in moments, not in a single, fully produced event. There’s no need to carve out time for mentoring. Simply, weave mentoring into the time you have – shorter conversations, shadowing, sharing meals, walking, commuting.

5. Be an Engaged Mentoring Partner.

Catherine Pearson recommends engaging with friends by intentionally following up on our last conversation.

Be the throughline for your mentoring partner. The generous listening required to ensure you can pick up where you left off after each conversation will elevate your engagement and thereby theirs.

Unsurprisingly, the formula for thriving friendships becomes the formula for striving mentorship. Friendships typically deepen with a bit of mentoring, while mentoring partners often become friends.

But only if you allow yourself to be a little vulnerable and a lot committed.

© 2026. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved.