mentoring | Center for Mentoring Excellence

7 Mentoring Lessons from Shark Tank

by Center for Mentoring Excellence | Dec 11, 2015 | Making Mentoring Work For You, Mentoring Relationships

While you may not have seen Shark Tank on TV, chances are you’ve heard of it.

In each episode, would-be entrepreneurs who have struggled for years to get their product or idea to market enter the “shark tank” where they meet a panel of potential investors, called “Sharks” who will help them realize their dreams . . . for a price.

Each entrepreneur has 2-3 minutes to convince five savvy Sharks that their product and passion is worthy of investment, time and financial support. Having a Shark on their team may position them to capture the attention of big retailers like Walmart or Costco and give them access to a huge customer base. It is no wonder that an entrepreneur gains confidence and renewed energy with a Shark on their team.

During each 30-minute episode of Shark Tank, the Sharks challenge each entrepreneur. They ask probing questions. How contestants respond offers keen insights and important messages about what you need to do to be successful as a mentee.

The Seven Lessons:

1. It isn’t enough to have an ambition or a dream. Sharks are interested in more than just a good idea. They are investing in you as much as they are in your product. It is your drive and passion that will make a difference.

Mentoring message: To enlist the support of a high-powered successful mentor, demonstrate passion and energy for your career growth and development.

2. Successful entrepreneurs craft concrete business plans that create and grow market share. Sharks are tenacious in dissecting plans to ensure they are realistic and are likely to succeed.

Mentoring message: Mentoring is more than interesting conversation about an idea. Mentors deepen their investment in you when they see you have a plan and make steady progress towards achieving concrete results.

3. Sharks are tough. They ask hard questions and expect answers. They expect their time to be well spent and rewarded.

Mentoring message: Do your homework and come prepared. You need to be primed for meetings with your mentor.

4. Swimming with sharks is not for the faint of heart. You may hope to hear praise, but expect honest and straightforward feedback that will make your idea better.

Mentoring message: Mentors provide support and frank and candid feedback that you may receive in your work world. Embrace it. Act on it.

5. A good idea can be easily dismissed if it doesn’t catch the Sharks’ attention. Polish and presence sell an idea. If you lack confidence or good presentation skills, you won’t get very far.

Mentoring message: Presence is an important quality for leadership success. Mentors and others gravitate to people who articulate ideas in a persuasive way. Work on your communication skills.

6. Sharks can offer three things: money, access to markets and business acumen. They aren’t going to run your company or tell you what to do to be successful. Ultimately, you are in the driver’s seat.

Mentoring message: Mentors aren’t going to tell you what to do either. They can help you expand your network and perspective, but it is up to you to drive your direction and do the work.

7. When Sharks make a deal, they celebrate the agreement. They hug. They shake hands. They end on a high note.

Mentoring message: Take time to celebrate and show appreciation. Showing emotion and enthusiasm is part of the special relationship between mentors and mentees.

Action Item: Try watching Shark Tank to see what you learn!

What Do You Do With An Idea?

by Center for Mentoring Excellence | Jun 12, 2015 | Growth and Development, Making Mentoring Work For You

By: Lois Zachary

I was excited to see What Do You Do With An Idea? hit the Wall Street Journal top ten bestselling hard cover nonfiction book list. I received my copy of Kobi Yamada’s book more than a year ago as a thank you gift from my mentee, Linda.

I treasure it because it came from her and because the story parallels our mentoring journey together. Like the character in the story, she developed the confidence and competence she needed to take her ideas, grow them and significantly influence others as they blossomed.

Mentees come to us with ideas, ideas they may not yet have articulated, even to themselves. They may have snippets of ideas, glimmerings of ideas, or even half-baked ideas.

Once they surface in conversations with us, our mentees begin to wonder what they are going to do with their ideas — where they are going with them or if they’re worth doing anything with it at all.

Ideas have a habit of clinging to us like sticky paper. Our ideas remain in our heads even when not pursued — after all, they are our ideas. Some mentees lack the confidence to share their ideas for fear of embarrassment or rejection.

In the Yamada story, a child’s idea begs for his attention. He ignores it (even though it still bubbles up from time to time) until one day he summons up the courage to talk about his idea. And, when he does, the reaction to it is negative and gives him pause, but only for a short while. He begins to dream about his idea. Dreaming energizes him — makes him feel more alive. His confidence grows alongside the passion for his idea.

As he becomes more self-aware, his worldview and perspectives expand. He discovers that having different ideas is okay. He comes to own his idea because it is, after all, his.

I think the book jacket sums it up nicely: This “is a story to inspire you to give your ideas some time and space to grow and to see what happens next.”

“Lois, when I came across this book, I knew it was what I wanted to give you as a thank you. You have worked with me, with my head full of scattered ideas for four years now, and you have influenced me so much by your ideas.”

Thank you, Linda! I can hardly wait to hear about your next idea.

Top 10 Best Practices for Mentees

by Center for Mentoring Excellence | May 15, 2015 | Facilitating Learning

We recently talked about the top ten best practices for mentors. But what about the mentees? Don’t worry, we have you covered!

Here are top ten mentee best practices from our 2015 Mentoring Matters Reader Survey:

1. Focus on achieving learning goals

Learning is the purpose and the payoff of mentoring. It’s easy to get sidetracked and lose focus. After three cups of coffee and little work on leadership development, mentoring fizzles out. Goals help you stay focused, moving in a positive direction, and benchmark your progress.

2. Expect to drive the mentoring relationship

Mentors are not mind readers. Be prepared to ask for what you need, when you need it. They won’t know what you need unless you tell them.

3. Create SMART goals that will contribute to your development

Fuzzy goals result in fuzzy outcomes. Make sure your goals are crystal clear to you and your mentor. Goals need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

4. Be authentic, open and honest

Your willingness to be vulnerable makes a significant difference in your growth and development. If you pretend that all is perfect, your mentor will never get to know the real you, and you will miss out on real learning opportunities.

5. Prepare for all mentoring meetings

Advance preparation for mentoring sessions will save time, make meetings more efficient and result in more meaningful learning.

6. Stay connected and in communication with your mentor

Utilize multiple ways to stay connected to your mentor. Regular and consistent communication is the name of the game, whether it’s face-to-face, email, Skype or telephone calls, the operative word is “and.”

7. Be willing to stretch and step out of your comfort zone

Expect your mentor to challenge you with questions and learning opportunities that might take you outside your comfort zone. They may initially make you uncomfortable, but the stretch is what will maximize your learning.

8. Ask for specific feedback

Your mentor’s honest and candid feedback will contribute to your self-awareness and get you to the next level. Practice asking for specific feedback and be prepared to receive it without being defensive. Share feedback with your mentor and act on what you hear.

9. Focus on the future

It’s easy to get bogged down in day-to-day issues instead of focusing on your future. Keep in mind that mentoring creates momentum towards your future development. Be prepared to articulate your vision for yourself so that you and your mentor can create strategies for your future success.

10. Keep a journal

You will want to make notes of conversations that reflect your learning, and also track your mentoring progress. A journal is a great place to record insights and questions in preparation for mentoring meetings. Although keeping a journal requires discipline and practice, it’s well worth the effort.

If you have other best practices that you’d like to add, please let us know!

Top 10 Best Practices for Mentors

by Center for Mentoring Excellence | Apr 28, 2015 | Growth and Development, Making Mentoring Work For You, Mentoring Relationships

Our recent annual Mentoring Matters Reader Survey revealed dozens of best practice topics. This blog is the first in our series of mentoring best practice posts soon to follow. Based on our survey results, here are the top ten:

Start by getting to know your mentee
- Make sure you take time to get to know your mentee before you jump into the work of mentoring. Nothing of substance will happen until you establish a trusting relationship.

Establish working agreements
- Agreements lay the foundation of a mentoring relationship. Build in basic structures about how you will work together moving forward. Make sure you and your mentee agree on ground rules.

Focus on developing robust learning goals
- The purpose of mentoring is to learn. Learning is also the payoff. Make sure the mentee’s learning goals are worthy of your time and effort. Developing robust learning goals takes time and good conversation.

Balance talking and listening
- It’s easy and natural to want to give advice, especially because you’ve “been there and done that.” But mentees want more than good advice. They want you to listen to their ideas as much as they want to hear what you have to say.

Ask questions rather than give answers
- Take the time to draw out a mentee’s thinking and get them to reflect on their own experience. Ask probing questions that encourage them to come up with their own insights.

Engage in meaningful and authentic conversation
- Strive to go deeper than surface conversation. Share your own successes and failures as well as what you are learning from your current mentoring relationship.

Check out assumptions and hunches
- If you sense something is missing or not going well, you are probably right. Address issues as soon as possible. Simply stating, “I want to check out my assumption which is … ” will prevent you from assuming your mentee is on track.

Support and challenge your mentee
- Work on creating a comfortable relationship first before you launch into the uncomfortable stretch needed for deep learning. Mentees need to feel supported (comfortable) and yet be challenged (a little uncomfortable) in order to grow and develop.

Set the expectation of two-way feedback
- Candid feedback is a powerful trigger for growth and change. Set the expectation early on. Be prepared to offer candid feedback, balanced with compassion. Model how to ask for and receive good feedback by asking your mentee for specific feedback on your own mentoring contribution.
Check in regularly to stay on track

Keep connected and develop a pattern of regular engagement. Both partners need to be accountable for following through with agreements. By holding an open, honest conversation about how you’re doing and what you need to do to improve, you encourage mutual accountability and deepen the relationship.

What do you think? Did we miss any best practices? Let us know!

Keep a lookout for our next blog later this month, Top Ten Best Practices for Mentees.

5 Ways To Raise The Bar On Your Mentoring Relationships

by Center for Mentoring Excellence | Jan 23, 2015 | Facilitating Learning, Growth and Development, Making Mentoring Work For You, Mentoring Relationships

Starting Strong walks you through several fictional mentoring examples, highlighting the importance of the first 90 days of a mentoring relationship and pointing out invaluable conversations to have.

One of those fictional examples introduces readers to Rafa.

Rafa is a composite of hundreds of mentees we have worked with over the past 15 years. He’s an ambitious Millennial, and impatient to make it big and fast. To help him on his professional path, Rafa’s company has matched him with a savvy and experienced mentor. This is new for him, and he has no clue what to expect from a mentoring relationship.

Sound familiar? If you’re someone who is new to mentoring like Rafa, our new book, Starting Strong, can help you jumpstart your mentoring relationship and get it on solid footing right from day one.

Starting Strong models mentoring best practices by taking you inside a mentoring relationship, allowing you to observe, feel and experience six key mentoring conversations as they take place.

Mentoring Tools As the story evolves over the first 90 days of their mentoring relationship, Rafa comes to appreciate the importance of a good launch, and the critical role preparation plays in moving forward. He learns many lessons about how to build a trusting, open and honest relationship, how to maximize his mentoring time, and how to take charge of his own learning.

The Conversation Playbook that follows the story is jam-packed with strategies, tips and probing questions that you can use to your advantage while working with your mentees.

Here are five ways to use Starting Strong to deepen your relationship, stay on track and raise the level of your mentoring practice:

Invite your mentees to read Starting Strong and discuss Rafa’s experiences.
During one of your initial sessions with your new mentee, address the questions at the end of each chapter.
Prepare for your mentoring meetings by selecting questions from the playbook to deepen your mentoring conversations.
When you bring your mentoring relationship to closure, give your mentee a copy of Starting Strong as a gift. It will help them prepare for the transition from mentee to mentor.
And, don’t forget to benchmark your mentoring practices against those described in the book.

Purchase your copy of Starting Strong today!