News May 19, 2026

The Mentor & Mentee Relationship

Updated: May 21, 2026 | 2 min read

What do I like most about my job? My team would say expanding my family … with ‘’LIDDian babies!’’ Although my babies don’t like when I call them babies…

Supporting young professionals is one of the most rewarding parts of my work. There’s a selfish side to it – I enjoy knowing I’ve contributed to their success. In my experience, some important factors to be a successful mentor are the following:

Sharing Your Passion

Building Trust

Setting High Expectations

It’s intimidating for many to start a new role. They often feel the pressure to know everything immediately and may compare themselves to their colleagues. It’s important to remember that expertise takes time to develop. Even experienced professionals continue to learn and grow. I’ll never understand when someone leaves after 2 years, saying they’ve seen everything in their position! I’m in the same field since 2008 and I still learn something new every day!

Being a good mentor involves being a good listener. There’s no room for judgement when I start mentoring someone. I need to be open to their answers and feedback. If they feel judged, they will clam up! Here are more details on my 3 “musts” when I mentor someone.

Share Knowledge with Passion

My first go-to is to always be passionate about what I explain. I want to create an environment where it’s engaging to learn something. Properly sharing knowledge that comes from the heart will be better received. The delivery of your technical knowledge needs to be on point. I want to create a thirst for knowledge and experience. When mistakes happen, stay calm and treat them as opportunities for growth. Overreacting only hinders learning. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s their opportunity to grow. It will probably be the last time they make this mistake!

Let me share some of my personal experience here. A couple years ago, one of my team members made a mistake on a project. She had worked very hard on this project – it was just an error due to inexperience, nothing major. When the client noticed it, I took accountability for it. In the end, all of my team’s mistakes are also my own, and when I see someone accomplishing their work with passion the way this team member had, all I wanted to do was to encourage her to continue down that path. In that moment, Alexa felt so supported. This created a strong bridge in our relationship. I’m sharing this now, because I just found out about it.

Build Trust

Another one of my priorities is welcoming them in my “behind the scenes” decisions. I don’t shy away from including them in larger conversations or meetings that they are not expected to be in. I allow them to shadow my work. In my opinion, observing someone at work is priceless. You can notice different ways to work that could improve yours. The mentees can learn tips and methods on how I execute my tasks, which then sows the seed for how they might handle such cases in the future. Involving them in this process not only demonstrates trust but also fosters curiosity.

Let’s say I’m having a tough conversation with a customer. It can be a great opportunity for them to witness what arguments I will use or what soft skills I’ll leverage to ensure a smooth ending. If I’m unsure of an answer, I’ll be honest about it, and they will see that it’s normal not to have an answer to everything. It’s what you do following those moments of uncertainty that matters. It sets more realistic expectations for them when you are transparent and relatable. Once again, this creates trust between my mentee and me.

Another example I’d like to share is when one of my best players was overwhelmed by what she thought were mistakes made by one of my babies. Freaking out, I assumed that she was right without validating with the person who made this error. When I called Chuck to understand how those mistakes had happened, he was able to be honest with me, which made me realize that I was missing his side of the story – that those weren’t actual mistakes. Chuck turned out to be right and I felt very fortunate to have created a trusting environment for my mentees to express themselves, since he was able to share what was on his mind. It also challenged me to address these types of situations differently in the future.

Set High Expectations

My final point, but certainly not the least, is to be firm and aim for excellence. Never settle for “good enough.” If a team member is underperforming, I address it directly and immediately. It’s super hard to provide constructive feedback that allows someone to blossom. But when it’s well executed, it can be extremely rewarding for both parties. This is when I really feel like I’m earning their respect. Our mentorship will survive through time, so it’s important for me to have a long-term vision. Setting high expectations for my mentees will propel them to achieve their professional goals.

Slice of Life

This time, I’m the mentee. Let me take you back to my first job, when I was nineteen years old. Yes, I still remember it to this day – I had so much to learn. My boss at the time, JM, saw my dedication and ability to get work done, so he invested a significant amount of time in my development. While it wasn’t always easy, I’m deeply grateful for his efforts because they shaped who I am today. Sometimes I wonder if I would have preferred a smoother path, but then I ask myself: would it have shaped me the same way?

I want to add a note of caution: the relationship between a mentor and mentee is not the same as that of a supervisor and employee. When I step into the role of a mentor, it’s because trust is there amongst the parties. Both parties know what they are bringing to the relationship – it’s not a one-way street. It evolves into being equals. That’s the best reward, cherish it – it’s a precious dynamic.

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