Over the years, I have been asked this question by a number of people. Some of the individuals were people I was training or individuals who desired to identify a mentor, either way they wanted to know.

The last person who said I should spend some thinking about this is my mentor, who I find to be exceptional in helping me on my journey. So I thought let me share some of the qualities I perceive make a great mentor:

1. Great experience:

Depending on why you want a mentor, will help you to identify what “type” of mentor” would be beneficial for you. However, when you have identified them it would make sense for them to have more experience than you.

I have coined a phrase which goes like this “a mentor’s hindsight, becomes a mentee’s foresight”, so to have a mentor who’s “hindsight” is pertinent and valuable to you is key. They must have insight of who you are and your desired / prospective future to be able to help to guide you into it.

2. Life & people skills:

Mentoring and coaching is different and how I summerise the difference is: mentoring is more holistic and person centred and coaching is more skill or disciplined centred. Both will overlap in some way, however they both have different focuses and I find mentoring to be more relational.

Mentoring on the whole is relationship based so it is good when you have a great and even warm relationship with your mentor. This helps because a lot of the reasons or challenges that are “really” hindering you may be i.e. personal, mindset, behavioural or spiritual etc. so if you cannot speak or share about the things that are really the problem, mentoring may not be effective.

For this reason, you must feel if you are going to share, it has to be worthwhile and not in vain so you must perceive your mentor has the people skills to support you.