Get Along and Get Ahead: Leadership Attributes for Effective Mentoring
Leadership skills that signal compelling interpersonal skills and a growth mindset are predominant factors for improving mentor effectiveness.
What does it take to be effective at mentoring? The first step, perhaps, is agreeing to a mentorship commitment. Despite this obvious first step, the truth is that just wanting to help will not make you a good mentor. For efficient mentoring, leadership skills are invaluable.
As I’ve realized, to genuinely contribute to your mentee’s growth, your commitment to mentor needs to be matched by effective mentoring skills. How do you envision an effective mentor? In my view, think a devoted teacher meets a highly successful leader.
This article focuses on some of the leadership attributes that enhance your ability to be an effective mentor. For example, consider leadership attributes such as social awareness, strategic thinking, authority, and influence. Compared to commitment alone, a study found that behaviors that signal compelling interpersonal skills (getting along) and a growth mindset (getting ahead) were predominant factors for improving mentor effectiveness.
In this article, I’ll breakdown each of these categories and evaluate how they can position you to become a better mentor. This post covers the following leadership attributes:
- Self-monitoring (social awareness)
- Political skill (social networks and influence)
- Strategic outlook (understand the present and think ahead)
- Learning goal orientation (master new skills mindset)
1. Self-monitoring (social awareness)
Self-monitoring refers to the ability to keep track of your own behavior and how it affects others. When you’re skilled at self-monitoring you know how to adjust your expressions and behaviors so that others are not negatively impacted. Conversely, someone with low skill at self-monitoring relies only on what they believe — stay honest to their emotions — and will behave accordingly regardless of how it affects others.
Improving your self-monitoring skill as a mentor will impact your effectiveness providing constructive feedback. I strongly believe that open dialogue is the currency of effective mentorship. Therefore, adjusting your communication strategies based on your mentee’s response to feedback will help you identify the right type of communication approach that works for your mentee.
Quick tips to improve your self-monitoring skill:
#1 Find the balance between staying true to your principles and how your actions are perceived by others.
#2 Observe how your mentees react and ask for their feedback frequently.
2. Political skill (social networks and influence)
Your mentees might not realize it yet, but your ability to create and maintain connections with others is of tremendous benefit to them. For example, leveraging your network to find the right opportunities allows you to transform your mentee’s career not only as a mentor but also as a sponsor. After all, in most cases, it’s often through social networks that opportunities arise for career advancement.
Political skill involves managing these social networks — you know people and these people know other people. In its simplest definition, it marries the idea of “getting along” and using your social capital to create value. You can use your political skill to create value for your career, within your organization, and for your mentees.
The question then becomes, how can you use your political skill to create value as a mentor?
From a technical perspective, you could tap into your network to help your mentees learn a new skill that’s outside your expertise. Political skill, therefore, can unlock a myriad of opportunities that expand beyond your core competencies and greatly enhances your effectiveness as a mentor.
From a relationship-building perspective, similar to self-monitoring, political skill is a leadership attribute that helps you build rapport with your mentees. In fact, a mentor with political skill can easily create a space of trust for open dialogue with mentees from diverse backgrounds and personalities.
Quick tips to improve your political skill:
#1 Polish your networking skills. Check out the all-time classic book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
3. Strategic outlook (understand the present and think ahead)
Having a strategic outlook means you can effectively reflect on the following questions:
What are the big-picture goals of your organization, group, or institution?
Are you aware of how your contributions fit within the bigger picture?
Strategic outlook is an attribute that defines your leadership and also your effectiveness as a mentor. This is simply because obtaining clarity about your own goals, skills, professional development path, and fit within an organization puts you in the best position to help someone looking for guidance.
In my view, if you can distill what it takes to get ahead in your organization or discipline, you’re better prepared to assist your mentee when discussing professional development goals. Consequently, for your mentee, your insight becomes a calibration tool that helps them align their goals with the growth opportunities you can foresee. Therefore, refining your thinking about big-picture goals can put your mentees in the right launching pad for their career advancement.
Quick tips to improve your strategic outlook:
#1 Have “line of sight”– align your work to your organization’s or discipline’s overarching goals.
#2 Constantly think about current challenges, potential solutions, and emerging trends in your field.
4. Learning goal orientation (master new skill mindset)
Becoming a better mentor starts with becoming a better you. A goal orientation mindset describes those who are proactive in increasing their competence and prioritize mastering new skills.
In essence, learning new skills means you acquire new tools to pass on to your mentees for their professional growth. Some will describe this as a win-win situation.
More importantly, the goal orientation mindset usually describes individuals who thrive by seeking feedback. In my experience, a mentee benefits tremendously from a mentor who understands the value of professional growth by virtue of constructive critique and constant improvement.
Quick tips to improve your learning goal orientation skill:
#1 Engage in quarterly performance and skill self-assessments to identify areas for improvement.
Commitment is not enough
For effective mentoring, there has to be the right dose of self-motivation and commitment. That is, commitment in time and determination to become a valuable resource to your mentee. However, if your goal is to become an effective mentor, commitment is not enough. Effective mentorship requires a deliberate refinement of your leadership skills as well.
