The Mentor Playbook

What is mentoring?

When does it happen?

1:1 relationship

Educational environment

Day-to-day interactions

What do you need?

You need...

Time

Give more than you take

The Learning Process

Stages of Competence

ANYTHING you've ever learned or will learn will take you through these stages and all their frustrations

Conscious incompetence: Easy to get overwhelmed; Need resources & discipline

Conscious competence: Takes time & motivation; Need practice & support

Unconscious competence: Need continued practice (can slide backwards if skill is not used)

What'll make the difference in whether you give up or move to the next level is perseverance & support

This helps you develop empathy for yourself & others through the learning process

A mentor is someone who supports you through this process & helps keep you motivated so you don't give up

If you have a handful or half a handful of things that you've reached this level at in your field, you've familiarized yourself with the learning process and can help others through it

Stages of Competence

Reflective competence

Jargon

Jargon is a shortcut to communication

Only helpful when there's a prior shared understanding

Am I ready?

Who to mentor?

Mentor someone...

Who asks for help

With potential

Dealing with change

Mentor someone...

Inside & outside of your network

How should we mentor?

The essential...

Building trust

The essential...

Assume infinite intelligence, zero knowledge

The essential...

Colleague first, mentor second

Don't know?

Hit Pause

The practical...

Help prioritize

Set expectations

Network introductions

Remove roadblocks

Fear

Safe environment

Learning as a value

Foster collaboration

Remove roadblocks

Impostor phenomenon

Celebrate accomplishments

Reflect on progress

Encourage independence

Formulate good responses

Approachable

Vulnerable

Present

Formulate good responses

Encouraging

Walk the middle path

Non-directive

Formulate bad responses

✗ Well, actually...
✗ It's easy.
✗ Just XYZ...

Formulate good responses

✔ What have you already considered?
✔ What went as planned?

Formulate good responses

✔ What do you need to feel supported?
✔ When X, do Y, because Z...

Mentor better

Mentor better...

Self care

Mentor better...

Emotional intelligence

Mentor better...

Cultural & personal sensitivities

Outlive the relationship

Future benefits

Focus on character development

Future benefits

Forever mentor

Ask for feedback

Why mentor?

Mentor because...

Develop skills

Reinforce knowledge

Expand your network

Mentor because...

Build community

Mentor because...

Nurture belonging

The Mentor Playbook

References

The Mentor Playbook Four Stages of Competence (Wikipedia) Kristin Wong: Dealing With Impostor Syndrome When You’re Treated as an Impostor (New York Times, 2018) How To Have Code Reviews Developers Actually Want (Cameron Presley)

Licensing

The Mentor Playbook Slides by Gabriela Dombrowski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License You can find the original content at https://gabidombrowski.github.io/the_mentor_playbook/#/