Leaders need to extend themselves and make themselves available.
It’s fundamentally about curving and extending time that mentors and mentees rarely have. Spending time with a number 4 on the team can push them to number 1 in short order.
Spending time on building relationships matters. Chit-chat alone won’t work.
The topic of an hour spent, is to align the goals of the individual with the goals of the leadership and company so that they can grow.
Sharing with examples the next career step, the candor of establishing/agreeing weaknesses, makes hard “looking” days “feel” easier.
Don’t enforce or re-establish anecdotes, suggested methods and best practices.
Share the insights, share the playbooks - be transparent, secure about yourself to cut the chase and get to the point.
Curving time is possible by being obsessively focused on the mentee’s goals. If you find the bright ones, you are lucky. If the bright ones grow, because you extended yourself, leaned-in to listen to them - thank your stars because they confided in you.
An hour goes a long way. It’s worth extending your day.