Be a Great Mentor To Software Engineers

12 actionable steps to being a great mentor.

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Hi this is John with this week’s Developing Skills - Skills for Developers looking to develop their careers. **

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Tip of The Week: How To Be A Great Mentor To Software Engineers

The best mentor mentee relationships look like the relationship between a parent and their grown-up child, not like the relationship between a boss and an employee. It’s about mutual respect, trust, shared values, and good communication, which should not include a power dynamic that comes with the boss-employee relationship.

Mentors should motivate, inspire, and support, providing their mentees with the tools they need to achieve their goals and work through challenges.

So how do you set up and create a good mentor-mentee relationship and ensure you are a good mentor? Here’s some things to consider:

1. Have clear goals - Know what you want out of the relationship. Just like the mentee, you should know the type of relationship you’re seeking and what you want to gain.

2. Choose mentees carefully - Effective mentorship takes time. You are giving away time that you could use to pursue your own goals. You want to ensure your mentee is going to respect your time. Be sure you have the time and energy to commit properly. Equally they are committing their time, be sure you’re going to be invested and follow through with them.

3. Set mutual expectations together at the beginning - Every relationship is unique. Discuss expectations with your mentee and determine if you’re ready for that commitment. Determine:

   1. The goal of the mentoring relationship.

   2. When the mentoring relationship ends.

   3. How often should you meet, and why.

   4. What resources can the mentor provide for the mentee to do some work on their own.

   5. What measure will be used to determine success.

4. Be clear, firm and fair with those expectations - Establishing clear, firm and fair ground rules with mentees can improve efficiency and provides a clear point to break off if they are not being respected. Hold them and yourself accountable for meeting the agreed expectations.

5. Take a genuine interest in your mentee - A mentor/mentee relationship is a personal one. To to be a great mentor you need to know your mentee on a personal as well as professional level.

6. Build trust - To create a deep relationship you need to trust each other. Being open, honest and vulnerable is part of that.

7. Share your journey - By sharing your own mistakes and failures - being vulnerable you build trust and help your mentee see what doesn’t work and why.

8. Tailor your approach - Be prepared to adapt your approach to them and their needs, you’re helping them.

9. Don’t assume, Ask! - Don’t assume you understand their situation, scenario or issue. Ask questions to dig deeper and really understand. Only when you really understand can you offer advice - but not decisions to your mentee.

10. Know when to give advice and when not to - If you don’t have the answer feel free to offer to provide it in future after some research. Equally if the mentee is not ready for it, pause and return at a future time when they are.

11. Celebrate their wins - don’t just focus on their current issues, remind them of their wins and the progress they’ve made.

12. Seek out extra resources for them - look for opportunities to bring more to the table, this will help them and can often help you grow too.

Bring your best energy and full focus to every session. Give them a positive experience driven by your positivity and genuine interest in them.

Do this and it’ll be a positive and rewarding experience for both of you.

Two Ways I Can Help You Level Up As A Software Engineer:

1. I write another newsletter, Coding Challenges that helps you become a better software engineer through coding challenges that build real applications.

2. I have some courses available:

   1. Become a Better Software Developer by Building Your Own Redis Server (Python Edition) which guides you through solving the Redis Coding Challenge in Python.

   2. Build Your Own Shell (Go Edition) which guides you through solving the Shell Coding Challenge in Go.