What a Mentor Should Be Like - 5 Key Criteria

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An article about motivation, competencies and loyalty for mentors, aspiring mentors, specialists and students.


It is a mistake to think that anyone can be a mentor. Mentoring is not an easy task, requiring emotional and physical preparation, strength and time from a person. Therefore, first of all, it is important that a person who wants to mentor others really wants to do this and no one forces him to work. What other criteria should a specialist have - we will consider in this article.

Professionalism and experience
The main criterion that allows a specialist to teach other people is the possession of professional knowledge. The level of experience of the mentor should be significantly higher than the skills of his protégé. In this case, the interaction of the two parties will be productive and useful.

Ability to teach and impart knowledge
It is not enough to have a wealth of experience to teach your students well. There are mentors who have tremendous knowledge but cannot convey the topic in an accessible way. Or they think that “there is nothing to explain – everything is perfectly clear anyway.” Working with such a teacher is a real headache. In order for new knowledge to be absorbed easily and effectively, a mentor must be able to establish contact with people and listen to their problems, be loyal and observant.

Leadership and Influence
In the process of teaching, it is important not only to explain the material clearly, but also to captivate the students with the story, lead them and motivate them to learn. Without leadership skills and the social media marketing service ability to persuade, you definitely can’t do it. However, the mentor should not be too self-confident and think that his methods of solving problems are the only correct ones.

Responsibility and organization
Any serious business begins with organizing processes and taking responsibility for the result. Not with inspiration, fantasy or genius, but with organization. To do this, you need to draw up a clear plan of tasks and actions that both parties must complete without fail. The mentor must understand that he is also responsible for the result of the mentee and the person's success depends on their joint work.

Emotional intelligence
This competence allows you to control and manage a huge resource such as emotional reactions. All people are different, so the approach to mentoring should be partly individual. The ability to empathize, understand the feelings and emotions of the student will help make the learning process easy and effective, and also reach the goal faster.

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Anton Urusov, Vice President of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, member of the Elbrus Club of Russian Leaders, participant in the Mentoring program of the presidential platform Russia — Land of Opportunities:
" Success in mentoring largely depends on the interest of both parties in the matter and mutual sympathy. If at the initial stage the mentee and the mentor were able to find a common language, "chemistry" was established, then the result will be productive interaction.

For effective collaboration, it is best to use an individual approach: talk to a person about their hobbies, find out their goals, and how a mentor can help them. In the process of communication, you do not need to make decisions and live the life of the person you are mentoring, you should take the position of an advisor and help them find answers on their own. We are all different, everyone has their own system of values ​​and their own path in life, so a mentor cannot insist on their opinion and decide for another person what is best for them to do.

In 2019, we started working together with Artem Pustovarov, a very talented student and winner of the All-Russian Youth Management Cup "Manage!" of the "Russia - Land of Opportunities" platform. He was finishing his fourth year of a bachelor's degree and, like many students in his position, was faced with a choice of which master's program to continue his education in. We discussed Artem's strengths a lot, which areas are currently in demand and which educational institutions one can get an education in. Our joint interest in the financial sector was very helpful. At the time of the start of the Mentoring program, Artem was studying at the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service, and is now a student of the FinTech (Finance and Technology) master's program at RANEPA and Sberbank - one of the highest-rated and most promising programs in Russia.