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Have you been a mentee?

shannmshannm member
in Working Moms
I am participating in a mentoring program in my company. Based on a questionnaire, I was paired with a VP in our clinical space (I'm in preclinical). He is a very nice guy but I'm not sure what topics to discuss. We've covered the basics like his career path, his general thoughts on the company compared to others, a little bit about his work/life balance (where clearly I would have more in common with his wife)....

Any general questions that helped guide your discussions? Any other suggestions about the process?

I will add that it has the additional complexity of having us a two different sites. So we are planning a video chat (which I hate.)
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Re: Have you been a mentee?

  • groovygrlgroovygrl member
    I am surprised your company didn't provide some guidelines of they a re institutingb a formal progam but maybe you can ask hr if they have any? What are the expectations for meeting etc? Also just clarifying are you the mentee or the mentor?
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  • shannmshannm member
    I am the mentee. They are providing guidance and want the mentee to drive the agenda. So I just want to make sure I have good topics and not week after week talk about the same things.
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  • MommyAttyMommyAtty member
    I have. And those open-ended programs are really hard. If you have specific issues you can raise and ask for guidance on, that's always nice. Also, you can go over things like your objectives for the year, your personal or group vision statement (make one if you don't have one... it's a great exercise), your long- term career plans, and your annual evaluation if you are comfortable sharing that. Or you can talk about management philosophies. I'm reading about resonant leadership right now, and that's interesting.
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  • shannmshannm member
    Thanks ladies. All seems obvious but I tend to draw a blank after a bit of discussion. I guess the exercise itself is a learning experience. And my roadblock is often that our challenges are very different because of our company roles. Ie, he has never had my job and I will never have his. So I have to keep things somewhat general.
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  • groovygrlgroovygrl member
    Ok so here is a random thought that maybe could lead to discussion ideas, the lean in circle model has a list of questions for ppl to respond to at each meeting... Those meetings seem like they a re almost group mentoring in a way (I am not a member of one tho). So questions to think about before meeting could be things like what was something great that happened this month, what was something challenging, what are you most looking forward to this month and most dreading, what do you need some guidance or advice about or maybe a connection or resource, what are some short term and long term professional dev goals of yours (and provide updates on those monthly of needed), etc. Just some quick thoughts for you! I would think there are some mentoring program guidelines etc online somewhere...
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  • groovygrlgroovygrl member
    Another idea maybe ask if he has any books on leadership management or other related topics he would recommend and maybe you can talk about themes that directly apply to your field. You could always do the strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment and use that as a talking point... If you a re in a leadership position they also have strengths based leadership and kouzes and posner leadership challenge has a popular self assessment and a workbook that goes with it, etcxxxxx
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