Mentor/ Mentee Tip #3 – Develop Trust
Our NACMA Membership Development Committee continues our series focused on our TOP 10 Tips to Building a Strong Mentor/Mentee Relationship; I would like to concentrate on Tip #3 – Develop Trust.
Developing trust is not going to happen and be all set after the first phone call/interaction. This process will take time, but should be built from both the mentee and the mentor side of the relationship. “Developing trust” might sound like a lot of work and in a sense it is but in any real relationship I think trust is needed; so developing trust between a mentor and mentee is an important component to your relationship. However, developing trust with your mentor or mentee is not going to be the same as how you’d develop trust with a friend, I came across this article on Jon Gordon’s website that outlines different ways to build trust. I think having different methods and ways to develop trust is crucial because no two relationships are the same.
While Jon Gordon’s article listed 11 ways to build trust (http://bit.ly/1MRBq9v), here are the three that stood out to me:
1. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
- Make sure you agree on a preferred form of regular communication, whether it’s once a month or every other month. While you have this preferred form of communication also check-in with big news, small news etc. when it comes up.
- During your calls make the most of it and if something’s not meeting your expectation with the relationship make sure to let them know so that changes can be made.
- Value long-term relationships more than short term success.
- This relationship is meant to help you and provide you with someone that works in this industry but aren’t part of your athletic department to provide an outsider’s thoughts/opinions etc.
- Don’t just use it for a short-term contact, build a genuine relationship with them and you’ll get more out of the mentor/mentee relationship.
- Be honest!
- The more honest and genuine you are with the relationship the more you’ll get out of the relationship and it won’t just be surface level conversation, but more meaningful conversations that will help you grow and develop personally and professionally.
These are the methods to building trust that stood out to me. There’s many other ways, some mentioned in the article above, and other ways that Jon Gordon doesn’t touch on that also work in terms of developing trust. As long as you’re being genuine in your relationship with your mentor/mentee, developing trust will come naturally. I hope these tip helps you with your mentor/mentee relationship.
If I can ever help with anything don’t hesitate to reach out,
Katie.Prchlik@usu.edu or @KatiePrchlik on Twitter :)