How can you be a great mentor as a leader?

To excel as a mentor, leaders should actively listen to mentees, offer constructive feedback, and share relevant personal experiences. Creating a positive and supportive environment, encouraging critical thinking, and celebrating achievements are key to fostering a successful mentorship relationship.

Being human is the best piece of advice I can offer here. It's really that simple. Understand that people have lives and make sure they know that you realize that.

The most successful managers enter into a mentoring, or “coaching,” relationship with their direct reports. Be empathetic, offer guidance, share experiences, encourage growth, and sprinkle in a dash of humor.

To be a great mentor as a leader, prioritize open communication, actively listen to your mentees, and foster a supportive environment. Understand their unique strengths and weaknesses, tailoring guidance to their needs. Provide constructive feedback, highlighting achievements and suggesting improvements. Cultivate a growth mindset, encouraging continuous learning and resilience. Lead by example, demonstrating integrity, humility, and a commitment to personal development. Create opportunities for mentees to showcase their skills and take on challenging projects. Foster a culture of collaboration, where knowledge sharing and diverse perspectives are valued. Empower mentees to set goals and guide them in creating actionable plans.

- Sharing experiences including challenges and successes, shows you're approachable and relatable. - Consistent communication helps build a steady, trusting relationship. - Listening attentively shows that you truly heat what they're saying byy asking questions and reflecting on their thoughts. - Respect confidentiality - Show empathy to create a strong emotional connection. - Be reliable - Encourage and support - Respect their perspectives - Offer constructive feedback in a way that is helpful and positive which helps in building trust - Be patient as trust takes time

Define what success looks like, break it down into achievable components. Align daily tasks with these components and periodically review hits and misses with your mentee.

Invite your mentee to create a contract outlining their goals and deliverables. These should be specific, measurable and time bound. The contract should be reviewed by both of you to ensure that a clear agreement is reached. Set up regular check-ins to review progress and to see if any goals need to be renegotiated. The contract should be a dynamic document, changing and growing as the two of you work together.

In my experience this is an area where many managers fall short mainly due to bad assumptions. You may have very basic expectations and think that those are understood by the vast majority of people, but the fact is unless you make those expectations clear, you are setting your people up for failure. Laying out what is expected greatly increases your people's chances of meeting your expectations, no matter how big or small.

Yes, avoid ambiguity and have a roadmap of the entire process. This will keep all actions on track and maintain focus. Be articulate on roles to be played by each part and keep evaluating and monitoring the progress.

4 steps for powerful and effective feedback: 1. Feedback should be an invitation, not a declaration. Start by asking your mentee if they would be open to feedback. Once you have their buy in, they will be much more receptive to your reflections. 2. Keep the feedback constructive. Don't focus on what went wrong, chances are they already know that. Instead, help them see what their doing right. 3. Use the Feedback Loop: What went well and why was that effective? What would be better next time and why that will be effective? Mentee first, then mentor. 4. Keep it timely. Feedback is most effective when it happens right after the event or behavior being reviewed. The fresher the experience, the stronger the connection on how to improve.

Ask, don't tell. Use open ended questions to invite your mentee to reflect on their performance. What worked well? Why do you think that was the outcome? What could have been better? What are you learning about yourself in this situation? Ask how you can support them. They may want direct feedback or advice or nothing at all. Before sharing your thoughts, ask how you can be helpful.

People grow into the expectations we have of them. Invite your mentee to take on challenging projects. Ask them what goal seems out of reach and invite them to try that. Express your confidence in them. Let them see that you trust their ability tackle big problems. If they stumble, help them get back on track and show them that they have your support no matter the outcome.

En mi opinión ofrecer un espacio seguro, dando confianza a las personas que son parte de tu equipo es algo esencial, conocer a las personas, preguntar en que se consideran buenos, que quieren aprender o cuales son sus aspiraciones, entender esas motivaciones ayudan a impulsar a las personas a tomar nuevos desafíos a que puedan ser vistas por otros y, que esas ganas sean reconocidas y valoradas ya sea, por el mismo equipo o por otras áreas. Creo que los mentores o descubridores de talento en las organizaciones pueden ser impulso y dar visibilidad a las personas.

Leadership transcends skills, eloquence, and analytical abilities—it hinges on the individuals we are. This encompasses our belief in and support for the team, the vision set for them, navigating paths on their behalf, and providing strength. Leadership means shifting from self-focus to a collective commitment, seamlessly integrating into the team. Key aspects include fostering a psychologically safe work environment, setting goals while allowing exploration, promoting continuous learning, investing in individuals, recognizing and celebrating their contributions, and pushing for personal growth. These elements cultivate a positive and thriving team dynamic.

Creating a Safe Space is so very important. People need to know they can express themselves in a way that allows them to be heard. It may be messy and may not make sense to others, but sometimes, communication can get confused and misunderstood, especially if we're upset. When we come from the heart, that's what people connect with. Perfection is an ideal, along with getting it right every time. Allow people the space talk and listen - just listen, even if we don't agree with it, believe in it or like it.

Create a collaborative environment where feedback is accompanied with feedforward. While it is essential to provide the mentee feedback, a good leader should also provide an opportunity to let the mentor know where they believe their mentor can best help the mentee foster growth and learning in areas the mentee believes they need more help with. Feedback/feedforward is a two-way street that benefits both the mentor and the mentee.