Executive Mentor is one the potential relationships that can develop between members of a premium professional network such as Madison Who’s Who. Should you ever have such an honor bestowed upon you, following are some key pointers to bear in mind about the role.

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6 Pointers for Executive Mentors
2008-10-23 09:10:14 by Dan English
There is no greater honor than to be sought out as an executive mentor. The financial rewards, the social
accolades, the academic admonition, all pale in comparison to the simple request of a respectful, willing, and
capable pupil.
This is one the potential relationships that can develop between members of a premium professional network
such as Madison Who’s Who. Should you ever have such an honor bestowed upon you, following are some
key pointers to bear in mind about the role.
1. Open and Honest?
First and foremost, as an executive mentor, you will be expected to share of yourself honestly, including your
greatest successes and your most dismal failures. As one of the end goals of mentoring is to shortcut the
learning process of experience for your student, you must be willing to lay it all on the line, holding nothing
back for humility or pride. Mentoring is a educational platform, and you can never be sure which method of
presentation or point of reckoning will garner the desired response.
2. Encourage Critical Thinking
In addition to sharing, honestly, you must seek to teach your mentee to think critically. This is accomplished
through situational teaching, whereby circumstances for which you know the outcome are presented using a
reflective questioning methodology.
During this process, it is more important that your pupil understand the situation and the reasoning for his
response to the situation than it is for him/her to be correct in their handling of it. Critical thinking is
infrequently and ineffectively taught in our public schools, and must not be ignored at the professional level if
your life experience is to truly be beneficial.
3. Keep it Real
When possible, attempt to utilize real life situations concerning yourself and/or your mentee. Seek
discussion regarding pending or current challenges in your own professional life. Offer respectful advice and
opinion regarding upcoming situations weighing on your student.
These real life situations, when coupled with critical thinking as it relates to past resolutions, form the
strongest base of reference for your mentee as they move forward in their lives.
4. Two-Way Process
Remember that mentoring is a two-way process that is meant to first serve the needs of the individual who
sought you out. As such, it is important to solicit feedback from them concerning what is working, what is not
working, and what might work better in the relationship and training.
Keep their goals in mind, and their personality and aptitudes in the place of highest importance as you work
with them in the learning process. Know that the position of executive mentor holds with it a responsibility to
care for the trust placed in your professionalism and wisdom.
5. Adapt your Style
Building on the feedback that is made available to you, remain flexible in your approach. There are many
different kinds of learners, and it is important for you to customize your methods to the student. Don’t be
afraid to change directions, or to stop and take an inventory from time to time. The end goal is more
important than the process.
6. Practice what you Preach
The best teachers always lead by example. Practice what you preach. Mentees, as with children, will either
consciously or unconsciously mirror the actions taken by the teacher. In addition to passing on bad or
ineffective habits, you are also jeopardizing the respect that is held for you when you offer an ideal that you
fail to live up to. This may be the simplest of suggestions, but it is definitely one of the most important.
A Wise Guide?
All of the above-mentioned advice is truly worthless if you as the executive mentor fail to remain committed
to the principles and the process of the role you have agreed to undertake. You must provide a calm and

2. constant guiding hand throughout the process (a process which is never truly complete).
Even after the critical mass of learning is achieved and the student becomes a master in their own right,
yours will forever be a role of providing wisdom and guidance.
So, consider well these key points if you are ever fortunate enough to be considered so learned as to be an
executive mentor. While your personal actions and attitude in the face of corporate or academic adversity
might help to form the greater part of your history, the greater part of your legacy will be in the lives of those
you mentored towards their goals.
By networking with experienced senior business executives, members of Madison Who’s Who can fast-track
their personal development, find potential executive mentors, and enhancing their personal reputation.
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Relevant Tags:business leadership, executive development, executive mentor, professional networking