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How to Develop a Great Mentor-Mentee Relationship
Diane Paddinson returns to the Eternal Leadership Podcast to talk about the power of mentorship, how to be a great mentor, and how to be a good mentee.
But why is mentorship important in the first place?
Based on extensive research by three different organizations ( Catalyst, Center for Work-Life Balance, and Harvard Business Review), the two key determinants of professional success are: one’s network and one’s mentors. This stresses the enormous impact of having a mentor.
We are the lowest common denominator of our five closest friends. – Jim Rohn
Diane shared the story of how she found her first mentor. She just decided to pick up the phone, called up Don Williams, who was then the CEO of Trammell Crow Company, and asked if he would be willing to be her mentor. It took immense guts for someone who was a leasing agent (at that time) to call the top guy of the company she was working for to request for mentorship. And he said yes!
Diane gained so much from mentorship that she developed 4 Word Women’s mentorship program to help other women find mentors to accelerate their professional success.
Diane gathered data from 348 mentors she has directly or indirectly worked with. She enumerated five important traits that help the mentor improve the chances of the mentee’s success.
A good mentor:
- Knows how to build trust with the mentee
- Is a good listener
- Brings positive energy
- Helps the mentee focus on “one key goal”
- Consistently shows up for scheduled calls and meetings
Since a mentor-mentee relationship is a two-way street, Diane also discussed three essential traits of a mentee.
A good mentee:
- Exhibits responsibility
- Follows through
- Is appreciative and respectful of the mentor’s time
As a final message, Diane encouraged everyone to find a mentor, then pay it forward.
What You’ll Learn
- Diane’s story on how she got into Harvard’s MBA program
- The key determinants of professional success
- How Diane’s upbringing set her up for success
- How Diane found her first mentor
- Three essential factors of a mentorship program
- Five traits of a good mentor
- What it takes to be a good mentee
Resources
- Diane Paddison’s first guest appearance on the Eternal Leadership Podcast
- 4 Word Women
- Sign up for 4Word News
- Join the 4Word Mentoring Program
- Be Refreshed by Diane Paddison
Bio 
Diane Paddison, 4word Founder and President, is a Harvard MBA graduate, former global executive of two Fortune 500 companies and one Fortune 1000 company, and serves as an independent director for two corporations and four not-for-profits.
But her life’s passion is mentoring professional women.
The leading advocate for the professional Christian women community, Paddison published Work, Love, Pray in 2011 while laying the foundation for 4word. The book cast a vision for women of faith who represent a growing share of the fulltime workforce, yet are underserved in resources compared to the men around them. Featuring 15 women leaders who found personal and business success while keeping faith at their core, Work, Love, Prayaffirms and challenges women who feel uniquely called to the workplace.
Diane’s heart for encouraging professional women took root in her early in her commercial real estate career, an industry where few women held mid-level roles, and were virtually absent in senior leadership. Crossing lines of tradition, Diane approached the top company executive – a man – to express her professional goals and ask for mentoring. He agreed, and since then, Diane has been purposeful in supporting women around her with the lessons she learned.
Mentorship is a lifestyle: even when traveling to a regional office on business, she often reserves a lunch hour to gather women company-wide to foster relationships. She led the development of the CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) “Bridging the C-Suite Gap” mentoring program, credited with the advancement of many participants to senior executive ranks since it launched.
Diane Paddison speaks on life/work balance, mentoring/sponsorship, and impactful leadership at events across the country. She authors weekly posts at 4wordwomen.org, and is a featured columnist for Today’s Christian Women – a Christianity Today digital magazine. Diane serves on the board for the Harvard Business School Christian Fellowship Alumni Association. Diane and her husband, Chris, have four children and live in Dallas, Texas.
