gistfile1.txt

People generally know that having a mentor is supposed to be an amazing way to grow. Few people go out and find a mentor. A managers job is helping you find a mentor. I would propose though, that mentors do not all need to be people.

Mentor from example.

Mentorship from an experience. Mentors are critical because they share experiences. Yet, even that is usually secondary to having a similar experience yourself. Mentors help provide context and contrast to what you may have experienced. They are a way to get some “fieldwork” in before you may encounter one of these experiences.

This isn’t necessarily a novel idea either. Of course doing something is better than just hearing about it (or reading about it). The trick is spotting the right types of experiences. This means understanding where your Mentee (b/c you as a manager are also a mentor…), is at. This could mean technical skills (you should no doubt being comfortable asking your Mentee where they would like to see improvement in their skills…like in the weeds discussions about this), but it could also be situational.

Let’s talk about some examples:

Say your Mentee has demonstrated an appreciation for the craft of coding. How can you encourage that? You may consider adding them to a burgeoning project, something early but outside of their immediate domain knowledge. The exact result here is unknown, but that is the point of the experience. You helped facilitate the situation which made that experience possible.