[Mentoring] What is your mindset and role? Grow with your mentee

Hello!
This is Inoue, a Persian cat from Beyond Shikoku Office.

The new fiscal year has begun, and I now have a new graduate junior colleague. (It's presumptuous of me to call myself a senior...)
This may be a bit sudden, but have you heard of "business mentoring"?
There may be many companies offering "business mentoring.
" I recently learned about the existence of "business mentoring" for the first time when I was entrusted with the role of "mentor."
Mentors are responsible for mentees from other departments, so it's important to build relationships and trust that transcend departments.

A mentor's role is to partner with and support junior employees who have little knowledge or experience as working professionals .
Conversely, a mentee is a junior employee who receives support and has little work experience .
Mentoring is a relationship in which the mentor meets one-on-one to listen to the mentee's concerns and help them break out of their negative shell
, or to watch over and support the mentee as they solve their problems and grow .

Mentor attitude and role

Here are some things I strive for as a mentor:

• Be interested in the mentee's work (job content)
• Take an interest in your mentee's hobbies and interests
• I will always be on my mentee's side
• Be interested in the development of your mentee and be willing to devote time to mentoring
• Respect your mentee and be respected by them
• Encourage and support your mentee, and put in the effort

I believe the role of a mentor is as follows:

• Clarify the mentee's goals and monitor and support the process
• Support to enrich your work and private life
• When worries or problems arise, we accept them and offer advice
• We build a relationship of trust that makes people want to talk to their mentor when they have worries or problems
• Understand and manage the motivation and stress of your mentee
• Reflect, review the current situation, and next steps, and share

My wall as a mentor

First of all, having never received "business mentoring," I
had no idea what to do as a mentor and didn't know where to start.
Also, how should I approach a mentor who was in a different department, based in a different location, and of a different gender?
I'm not a good speaker or listener,
so I started by searching the words "mentor," "mentee," and "mentoring" on Google.
I got advice from other mentors about how often they meet and how they lead the conversation.
From there, I considered what my mentoring style should be
"I want to be on the mentee's side," so I decided to stick to my core values.

What we did to prepare for the interview

During the first meeting, I asked a variety of questions to get to know my mentee,
including their date of birth, hobbies, and hypothetical questions.
Because we were based in different locations, each meeting was held online, so I deliberately avoided speaking face-to-face with the mentee.
I placed a monitor diagonally to my right and occasionally made eye contact while taking notes.
This was to avoid making the mentee nervous, as they were based in different locations and had little communication experience.
I thought that by not making them nervous, they would be able to speak in a relaxed and natural manner. I
closed questions, which could be answered with "yes" or "no," with
open questions, which required them to answer in their own words or allowed
them to answer freely. I tried not to ask questions that would lead them to answers or point out their weaknesses.
I also began to check my mentee's daily work reports, something I hadn't done before becoming a mentor
. When I saw a glimpse of their strengths or experienced success, I celebrated and praised them together.
Praise, rather than simply acting on it, began to come out of my mouth naturally.
I think this is because I have become more aware of my mentee as an individual.

The benefits of mentoring

I believe that employee growth is the company's growth.
Above all, as a mentor, I began to look forward to my meetings with my mentees.
This is because, as I met with them, I truly wanted to know more and help them. I

also became interested in the work of my mentees, who were assigned to other departments with
whom I rarely had the opportunity to communicate My mentees also gave me a sense of responsibility and awareness as a "senior" employee, something I'd always struggled to escape.
Meetings require both of us to make time for them despite our busy schedules.
Therefore, I began to think carefully and devise ways to ensure each hour of our meetings was meaningful for both of us.

I make sure to create an agenda for
the next meeting in advance, including a review of the previous meeting, a confirmation of the current situation, and next steps This naturally led to me always keeping notes of what was discussed, similar to meeting minutes.
During the review, I confirm whether the concerns or issues from the previous meeting were resolved and what process was used to resolve them.
During the status check, I listen to the mentee's current concerns and challenges.
While listening, I also gauge the mentee's stress level.
The next step is to confirm the mentee's short-term goals.
They are also asked to share their long-term goals, but since we meet at least once a month, we
encourage them to set and work towards goals that can be achieved in a month.
This involves accumulating small successes,
which helps to build confidence and increase self-esteem and self-efficacy.
I believe that high self-esteem and self-efficacy are very important for maintaining motivation as working adults.
I believe that high self-esteem and self-efficacy have the following effects:

• Better stress control and emotional control
• You can think about things from a positive and optimistic perspective
• I can accept the differences of my coworkers
• I can listen to what others say and express my thoughts clearly
• You can make use of your successful experiences and feel a sense of personal growth

Finally

With each meeting, my mentee helps me grow. I
'm also grateful to the company for giving me the opportunity to grow through "business mentoring."
I'm still inexperienced and it would be presumptuous of me to call myself a "senior," but
I will do my best to accumulate time so that we can grow together as "Beyond colleagues."

Growing every day, moving forward every day.
I have to update myself every day! ! !
Thank you for reading to the end.