Mentoring – What to Expect as a Mentor

I thought I would revisit one of the first topics I wrote about, and one that is personally important. Way back in December of 2014, I wrote about the Value of Mentoring and its importance to the environmental consulting industry. That was followed in 2019 by a blog about the Rewards of Mentoring. Six years on, it’s time to discuss what to expect in a mentoring relationship from the perspective of both mentor and mentee. Over the last few decades, I have enjoyed mentoring numerous students, young professionals and even a few seasoned pros. This month, here are some of my expectations and suggestions for mentors, based on these experiences.

Each mentee (and mentoring relationship) is unique, and dependant on individual personalities, career paths and trajectories, and objectives. While a mentor’s general approach to the process may be consistent for more than one mentee; that approach should be personalized based on the needs and goals of the mentee – it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation.

Mentoring requires a commitment of time and energy for both participants; recognize and respect the effort required, and please notify the affected individuals if changes are needed to a scheduled mentoring appointment.

Mentors should listen to your mentee as much, or more, as you talk to them. Ask questions, find out about their education, work experience and most importantly their career or professional goals. This will assist you in sharing beneficial knowledge and focussed strategic advice.

Recognize that your own experiences are just that – your personal experiences; and they may or may not be applicable to your mentee’s needs. By all means share relevant experiences, both good and bad, and especially what you have learned along the way, but realize that works for you may not work for everyone.

For me, mentoring is about helping and advising your mentee; not telling them what or how they should do things, but rather suggesting ideas and methods for finding what is really within them to discover and achieve their career aspirations.

Mentoring is not a contest; it doesn’t matter how many mentees you ‘have’ or how long a mentoring relationship lasts. Each mentorship is different, some are very short, some long term; some work out very well, while some fizzle out. Recognize these differences, and put the same sincere effort into each mentee. 

You need to be objective. Your personal preferences, goals, or accomplishments don’t matter – other than to try to share your applicable knowledge for the benefit of the mentee. Always respect boundaries and confidentiality.

Lastly, mentoring should be it’s own reward. It’s vitally beneficial to the growth of knowledge across many fields. One of the most gratifying things about mentoring, is to hear from a mentee that they have found that first job in the field, or advanced their career path to their dream job – and to share in their success.

Bill Leedham, P. Geo., CESA
Bill is the Head Instructor and Course Developer for the Associated Environmental Site Assessors of Canada (www.aesac.ca); and the founder and President of Down 2 Earth Environmental Services Inc. You can contact Bill at info@down2earthenvironmental.ca