A guide for mentors: Hold the Circle
A circle plan you can run from your first meeting.
What this guide covers
What this guide covers
What this guide covers
Why circles work
Members learn from each other
Peers give each other three kinds of help, and everyone gives and receives.
- Information what works, who to ask
- Career strategy feedback on choices
- Support someone who gets it
Ground rules
Agree three rules first
Say them at the first circle and again when someone new joins.
- What is said here stays here
- One person speaks at a time
- Questions before advice
The hour
Run the hour in five parts
The same plan every time lets members come prepared.
- Check-in, 10 min one line each
- The case, 5 min one member brings a problem
- Questions, 15 min questions only, no advice
- Ideas, 15 min the case owner listens
- Steps, 15 min everyone names one step
The questions round
Turn advice into questions
Stop advice that sounds like a question, and keep the open ones.
- Have you thought about quitting? That is advice. Ask an open question.
- What have you tried so far? Good. It opens the problem.
- What would a good outcome be? Good. It names the goal.
Quiet members
Bring in the quiet members
Give everyone an easy way in before the loudest voice fills the room.
- Go round the circle
- Write first, then speak
- Two minutes in pairs
- Ask by name, gently
Closing
Close with one step each
Open the next circle by asking how those steps went.
- Case owner one step on the problem
- Each member one step on their own goal
- You note the steps for next time
Hard moments
Watch each member, not only the group
In a group, one person’s needs are easy to miss.
- Someone stops coming message them privately
- Someone takes over thank them, then ask others
- A personal crisis talk after, tell the program team
Mentornity in Claude and ChatGPT
Use Mentornity from Claude or ChatGPT
Ask in your own words; your assistant plans meetings, fills in tools and drafts messages.
Connect it once
Add Mentornity in Claude, ChatGPT or another MCP app, then sign in.
Ask in your own words
Plan meetings, fill in a tool or form, find a mentor, reply.
A preview before every change
The assistant shows what will happen; nothing changes until you say yes.
Disconnect any time
It sees only what you see; Settings shows what it did recently.
Connect it once
Add Mentornity in Claude, ChatGPT or another MCP app, then sign in.
Ask in your own words
Plan meetings, fill in a tool or form, find a mentor, reply.
A preview before every change
The assistant shows what will happen; nothing changes until you say yes.
Disconnect any time
It sees only what you see; Settings shows what it did recently.
Your goals and the Academy
Set goals, learn, earn a badge
Track your goals in My development and learn in Mentornity Academy, in your language.
Set your goals
Write what you want to reach and rate it at each check-in.
Badge courses for mentors
Seven skills with short practice, then a 20-question exam.
Guides for mentors and mentees
Research-based guides, a deck for every tool, and decks for your program.
Add your badge to LinkedIn
Pass the exam and share the badge page, valid for two years.
Set your goals
Write what you want to reach and rate it at each check-in.
Badge courses for mentors
Seven skills with short practice, then a 20-question exam.
Guides for mentors and mentees
Research-based guides, a deck for every tool, and decks for your program.
Add your badge to LinkedIn
Pass the exam and share the badge page, valid for two years.
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- Kram, K. E. & Isabella, L. A. (1985) Mentoring alternatives: The role of peer relationships in career development Academy of Management Journal, 28(1), 110-132
- Huizing, R. L. (2012) Mentoring together: A literature review of group mentoring Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 20(1), 27-55
- MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (2015) Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, Fourth Edition MENTOR, Boston
Ask one member for a case
Invite someone to bring a real problem to the next circle.