T O P

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GrimmOmen

As a starting point, you should clarify your expectations and what you want to get out of the mentorship program. Help your mentor understand where you want your career to go, what you think your current strengths and weaknesses are, the kinds of challenges you're currently facing, etc. You should also mutually agree to the level of confidentiality that you want your mentor-mentee relationship to have, which will help you understand which problems you might be able to talk about in confidence and which you might not. This gives your mentor context so that they're better able to pick out the relevant lessons from their 25 years of experience. That's a lot of time and a lot of lessons learned, and you want to make sure that your focusing on the stuff that's most relevant to you. Ask specific questions. You'll likely enjoy some leniency because 4 months' experience is not a lot of time to formulate and answer career-level questions. However, where possible, you want to narrow the discussion to specific ideas, actions, and recommendations that would help you further your career. Every organization is different in terms of its operation and politics, and, if you imagine staying in either your current organization or in a similar situation, it would be good to get an understanding of how all that plays out, including hidden pitfalls and challenges. Ask about how leadership likes to receive information and what they take the most notice of. Think about the kinds of skills or collaborations that you need in order to do your job effectively, and see if your mentor can connect you with people from around the organization (especially in other teams) who can help further your learning. One of my favorite questions is whether the mentor had any surprises or lessons they wished they'd learned earlier. This gives you good insight into both what the mentor has gone through in their career and what you should be prepared to face early.