Set clear goals definitely & trust that the mentee will know when the mentor relationship's sell by date is up & ready for the next step.

As you do so, also inspect the relationship which is an input to the effectiveness of the mentorship. Are you energized by the conversation with your mentor? How confident are you with your mentor's compentency in guiding you? How open do you feel you can be with them? If you had to start today, would you pick your existing mentor or someone else?

Always always always focus on the output. We all to often (myself included) focus on the input. The mentor's experience, style of mentoring, the number of sessions... when all of that does not matter. I recently took a coaching course. As a career facilitator, I find myself critiquing the facilitator's style, we all do this within our own area of expertise, doctors make the worse patients, you know what I am talking about. When I let go of their style of facilitation (an input) and focused on my skill development (the output) I quickly realized just how effective and valuable this training was for me. I have since engage them as my mentor in my coaching journey. While we are all on a journey, it is the outcome that matters

Set a timeframe. What return on investment or tangible outcomes can you see over the last 6 months in your career. If they are not there, perhaps the mentor is no longer of value to you. Mentors will come and go at different points in your career. There may be times when you go from being the mentee to being ready to be the mentor. And that's ok; in fact, it's a sign of career growth!

Similar to a coaching journey, if the outcome or intent of the partnership and how this will be measured is not clarified upfront, ascertaining whether the relationship is still adding value or not will be a struggle. I always believe that when a relationship has travelled its course, completion is key. It doesn’t mean one may not reconnect when the time may be right again. Nothing is worse than forcing something that isn’t meant to be.

Approaching mentoring as a mutually supportive relationship can add value to both parties. The mentor and mentee should be considered as equal partners with each contributing to and benefitting from the relationship. For the mentor, it is important to recognize the value their mentee can offer in helping them improve their ability in this capacity as well as providing new knowledge on a subject of importance (e.g., intergenerational literacy). The mentee can gain skills in providing constructive feedback in an effective manner and overall confidence in their ability to work well with others. #humanskills

You absolutely must ask for, and provide, feedback on how the relationship is working out. The mentee may want more/less/different guidance and the mentor may want more insight into what else is expected from the relationship. This is of course only possible if a truly trusting relationship has been established. Feedback must be specifically tied to the work at hand and must be actionable. Saying “You’re doing a good job” says nothing. Be brave and speak your truth; it will enhance the relationship!

As a mentor I can say that it's very important to first identify goals and then to estabilish a good relationship with menti where he feeals secure to ask anything. From my experience I can say that the besst aproach is to ask often feedback what menti needs and in which way. Someone likes for example first do something then write it down, and oposite. You will superise how small things can be helpful.

You can also request feedback from peers and your supervisor to see what changes they have observed in your performance, confidence, skills, and knowledge. Consider asking them to complete a 360 feedback tool on your behalf before and after the mentorship. See if there are noteworthy changes over time.

Great leaders and those aspiring to leadership will go much further asking for honest feedback to the way they handle themselves in all situations. Often how others perceive us is different than how we think we are perceived. This can often be quite a stark realization that we are perceived differently than we think we are. Collecting honest and candid feedback will help us to expose areas that we can continue to work on and improve ourselves. Ask an esteemed leader that you trust to help mentor you in areas where your perception does not match those offering feedback.

Asking colleagues for feedback via a SWOT analysis is an excellent way to gain perspective and actionable feedback to move forward faster.

Mentoring has phases of relationship, so it's good to review regularly where you're at in partnership. At the beginning, learning can be steep for the mentee, the mentor holding boundaries and sharing wisdom. As the relationship progresses, equality develops in terms of support, potentially reverse mentoring from the mentee. It's useful now to re-contract, check in re communication, process and boundaries. Have original goals been met? Are there new ones to set? Towards the end of the relationship, if earlier phases were well managed, both will know mentoring is coming to an end. It's good to agree final actions, next steps and review what each learnt from the process and relationship.

Sometimes, a mentor works well for a specific phase of work and life. As your life progresses, you might need to get a new mentor for a different perspective. Even an exceptional mentor would have limits, so it is good to actually have multiple people you see inputs and mentorship from. This enriches the perspectives you receive. Also taking a gap from a mentor helps you review and see if you are a good match stil.

I would add personal chemistry and interpersonal dynamics between a mentor and mentor. If you continue having a positive and constructive relationship then it’s worth staying. As a mentee you also need to have a feeling that you continue learning and gaining insights from the relationship.

One more way to evaluate whether the mentoring relationship is still benefitting you is to ask yourself: - Do I have more topics to bring to the discussion for my mentoring session? - Do I look forward to the session, for it will help you gain more clarity and reach your goals even further? - Is this mentor still the best person to help me get from where I am to where I want to go? If the answers to the above questions are 'yes', then you still have some value that you are getting from this relationship.

Ending a mentoring relationship is a natural and essential part of growth and development. A mentoring relationship is only prosperous if there is an alignment between the mentor and mentee regarding their expectations, needs and wants. When there is a mismatch, it will lead to dissatisfaction within the mentoring relationship and ultimately impact the effectiveness of the relationship. It’s important to keep a pulse on the relationship to identify when it has reached its peak for both parties.

I think the important thing to do is to establish clear goals and milestones from the beginning. Have some clear criteria for achievement of specific milestones and the end goal. What does success look like? How will we work together? Knowledge - what should I know? Action - what should I be able to do / demonstrate? Emotional - what I should be thinking / feeling at each stage? Tracking progress is an important part of any mentor / mentee relationship. It enables people to see how far they're come and what they still need to achieve. By using milestones to evaluate progress across all criteria both parties should be able to determine whether the relationship is still beneficial.

The ideal relationship is when the mentor is encouraging, and the mentee is confident that they can trust their mentor and that the mentor will not exploit their position of authority. But in some situations, things can shift due to conflict or complacency. The mentee finds themselves in a situation where they cannot rely on their mentor and must take proactive steps to safeguard against their mentor's actions. When that happens, the value of a mentoring connection diminishes.

Being mentored is about having a relationship where the mentee feels comfortable to share both their successes and their challenges. If they feel they are having to be extremely careful in their languaging and how they present themselves, it reduces the possibility of achieving the goals and objectives set out in the beginning. The connection between the two people must be genuine to enable the conversations to be a catalyst for growth and achievement.