| [from the archives! originally published in 2019]
Sometimes, mentoring program leaders worry about the caliber of their available Mentors. They typically ask me:
My response: Mean people don’t mentor. I have worked with Mentors for 20 years, and I’ve never met one determined to ruin a Mentee or a mentoring program. The reality is that disgruntled folks don’t bother to sign up to mentor – they barely want to come to work! It’s discordant to be disengaged and engaged simultaneously. Even when these people are voluntold to be Mentors, they typically find an excuse to escape. No one joins a mentoring program intent on wrecking the program or a Mentee. People participate because they genuinely want to contribute, not contaminate. Could they fumble and falter? Sure! But being a Mentor is as much a development experience for the Mentors as it is for the Mentees. Here’s the secret: people learn how to mentor others when they actually start mentoring others. Sadly, most people cower from the challenge because they feel inexperienced, untrained, and unprepared to mentor others. Understandably, they don’t want to fail. But Mentees can be very forgiving when Mentors demonstrate vulnerability, commitment, and authenticity. A senior leader once declined to participate, confessing, “I would love to mentor, but I don’t know how.” While his vulnerability was refreshing (…most people just say, “I’m too busy!”), it was a missed opportunity for him and the organization! How can we encourage more well-intentioned people to mentor others? Make it easy to say, “Yes!”
There are no evil mentors – just unpracticed people who want to make a difference. © 2025. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved. |