What to do
There really are only two rules to remember:
- Remain patient and maintain an open mind.
- Mentoring is a journey - not a destination.
For youth, the primary objectives of most mentoring relationships are to convey basic societal values, to add new personal skills and experiences, or to offer new insights, attitudes, and behaviors to the mentee. These common principles will add new vision and wider experiences to each mentee.
Among the most common objectives include the development of the attributes of honesty, self-esteem, responsibility, reliability, and commitment. Other objectives include learning how to work as members of a team, and applying techniques for problem solving, decision-making, and goal setting.
Guidelines for Mentors:
All mentor-mentee relationships will vary and change throughout the life of the experience. Several guidelines will be useful to help build the trust and responsible behavior in the relationship. The most productive suggestions are:
- Keep communications confidential
- As a mentor, make promises only to the mentee
- Keep all the promises to the mentee
- Insist the mentee keeps his or her promise to you
- Emphasize your responsibility is to the mentee, not to the family
- Maintain regular communication by any means
- Seek assistance if the relationship is not compatible or must end for any reason
Obligations of Mentors:
Volunteers agree to be mentors and may have the best intentions to be the greatest role models possible; however, sometimes, their daily routine may interfere. Therefore, mentors need to be reminded of the most basic obligations, which include:
- Always be accessible
- Be reliable
- Follow through on commitments
- Demonstrate trustworthiness
- Promote the overall mentor program with others
- Support the relationship
- Seek added information about the mentee
