In the last years it has become more and more common to see a young entrepreneurs coaching their own bosses, proving that experience is not always the best teacher.
But what are the tips to start a successful reverse mentoring?
Some of the most important and simple tips to achieve good results in a mentoring process are:
to define from the beginning the objectives and expectations, the competences and the skills to acquire;
to plan in advance every detail of the mentoring in order to provide busy participants with a quick overview of the program;
to make sure both the mentor and the mentee are committed in the whole process from the beginning to the end and have the will to share knowledge with the other;
to build a trustful relationship between the mentor and the mentee, which is essential to get both participants to open their minds to new forms of reasoning and working;
to ensure transparence and clarity in communication in order to overcome intergenerational differences.
Regarding personal and social competences, in this specific form of mentoring the participants need to have both learner and teacher attitudes. The mentor needs to recognize what are the most useful points for the mentee and be patient at every stage of the mentoring process. Instead when the mentor becomes a mentee (he/she is learning something new) he/she has to leave his “ego” out.
Each situation is different, but these tips can be followed in most of the mentoring processes, just make sure to adapt them according to the background of the participants.
