Mentoring Guide

Why is mentoring important?

• Align with the values set out in the Thoth Tech company mission and chartering
• Support professional and personal development
• Help achieve company goals
• Empower growth in others
• Mentors serve as a source of knowledge and support
• Help set goals
• Help keep mentees accountable to their goals
• Help motivate and encourage to persist through challenges
• Create connections and networking
• Create trust and rapport
• Offer safe honest fearless feedback
• Strengthen knowledge
• Help you gain new perspectives
• Provide a sense of fulfilment

Key Mentoring Skills

• Communication (see guide on Fearless Feedback)
• Interpersonal savvy
• Leadership
• Confidence
• Understanding resources
• Identifying Goals
• Active Listening
• Asking permission
• Empathy

Mentoring models

One on One Mentoring

• Regular check ins
• One on one tutorials or conversations

Peer Mentoring

• Empowering others to share their knowledge
• Partnering up Seniors with Juniors as buddies
• Partnering up someone skilled in an area to support someone less skilled needing help

Group mentoring

• Workshops
• Tutorials
• How-to guides

SMART goal model

Defining goals with these parameters can help ensure that your objectives are realistic and attainable within a certain time-frame such as the Capstone project.

Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Timebound

Guide to being a Successful Mentor

1. Understand what you want out of the relationship.
   • Do you view the relationship as bi-directional where you learn from them as much as they learn from you?
   • How does taking on a mentorship role strengthen you as a leader in your personal and professional life?
2. Set expectations together in the very beginning.
   • How often do you have availability?
   • How hands-on can you be yourself?
   • What resources can you provide?
   • Is there a time limit on the relationship?
3. Take a genuine interest in your mentee as a person.
   • Get to know your mentee on a deeper level will how you build and strong relationship, and understanding them as person and how they interact with others.
4. Build trust and rapport.
   • Vulnerability is key to a successful mentorship. Fostering a safe environment through trust and rapport will help you assess core issues, challenges and opportunities beyond circumstance.
5. Know when to give advice.
   • Not all feedback is helpful feedback, learning to know the difference is important.
   • Sometimes taking some time to ensure you have the right information, experience or emotional state will help you come back with a clear and valuable response.
6. Don’t assume anything about your mentee – ask.
   • Everyone has bias.
   • Bias clouds our judgement whether you are conscious of it or not.
   • Breakthrough common assumptions by asking questions and digging deeper.
7. Share your journey.
   • Be open to being vulnerable and sharing your own mistakes and failures.
   • This builds trust and relatability.
8. Celebrate their achievements.
   • taking the time to highlight and celebrate successes and achievements helps build a mentee's confidence and keeps them motivated
9. Seek out resources to help your mentee grow.
   • Great mentors look out for or create situations to help their mentees get closer to their goals.
   • Helps mentee develop ownership over something
10. Be sure you have the bandwidth.
    • Be honest with yourself about the amount of time and expertise you are willing to give.
    • Helps you manage your own workload and person life without guilt or stretching yourself too thin.