A guide for mentors: The Mentor’s Role
Your role as a mentor, from research on what works.
What this guide covers
What this guide covers
What this guide covers
Does mentoring work
The relationship matters most
In a study of 1,162 employees, a good relationship mattered more than having a mentor.
Two kinds of help
Give two kinds of help
Mentors help with the career and with the person, and both count.
- Career help stretch work, visibility, introductions, advice on next steps
- Personal support trust, encouragement, a role model, someone who listens
What a mentor is not
Know what you are not
You are not their manager, therapist, recruiter or decision maker.
- Manager sets and rates their work
- Coach trained in a method, often paid
- Sponsor pushes them for a role
- Therapist treats distress
- Mentor shares experience, asks good questions
Who leads the meetings
Let your mentee set the agenda
Your mentee brings the questions, and you bring experience and better questions.
- What do you want from our meetings? Ask it in the first meeting.
- What should we talk about today? Ask it at the start of each one.
What successful pairs share
Five marks of a good relationship
Interviews with 54 faculty members found five marks of successful relationships.
- Both sides give and gain
- Mutual respect
- Clear expectations
- A personal connection
- Shared values
What sinks a relationship
Six things that sink a relationship
The same study found six marks of relationships that failed.
- Poor communication
- Little commitment
- Clashing personalities
- Competition
- Conflicts of interest
- A mentor without the experience
What mentors gain
Mentors gain too
Mentors report more job satisfaction and commitment than people who do not mentor.
Your offer
Say what you can offer
Tell your mentee early what you know well and where you will refer them.
- What I know well
- Where I refer you
- Time I can give
- How to reach me
Mentornity in Claude
Use Mentornity from Claude
Ask in your own words; Claude finds meetings, opens your hours and drafts your messages.
Connect it once
Add Mentornity in Claude or another MCP assistant, then sign in.
Ask in your own words
Find a slot, move a meeting, read profiles, fill in forms.
A preview before every change
Claude shows what will happen; nothing changes until you say yes.
Disconnect any time
Claude sees only what you see; Settings shows what it did recently.
Connect it once
Add Mentornity in Claude or another MCP assistant, then sign in.
Ask in your own words
Find a slot, move a meeting, read profiles, fill in forms.
A preview before every change
Claude shows what will happen; nothing changes until you say yes.
Disconnect any time
Claude sees only what you see; Settings shows what it did recently.
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- Kram, K. E. (1983) Phases of the mentor relationship Academy of Management Journal, 26(4), 608-625
- Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E. & Lima, L. (2004) Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136
- Eby, L. T., Allen, T. D., Evans, S. C., Ng, T. & DuBois, D. L. (2008) Does mentoring matter? A multidisciplinary meta-analysis comparing mentored and non-mentored individuals Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72(2), 254-267
- Ragins, B. R., Cotton, J. L. & Miller, J. S. (2000) Marginal mentoring: The effects of type of mentor, quality of relationship, and program design on work and career attitudes Academy of Management Journal, 43(6), 1177-1194
- Straus, S. E., Johnson, M. O., Marquez, C. & Feldman, M. D. (2013) Characteristics of successful and failed mentoring relationships: A qualitative study across two academic health centers Academic Medicine, 88(1), 82-89
- Ghosh, R. & Reio, T. G. (2013) Career benefits associated with mentoring for mentors: A meta-analysis Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(1), 106-116
Write your offer before you meet
One line each: what you know, what you do not, and how often you can meet.