Desire to Mentor? Think Through These Things First

Considering becoming a mentor? Wondering what it involves? Deciding whether to take the plunge? Here is a short guide for the hopeful, the interested, and the curious.

1. Validation is for parking. Closely examine your motives. Respect from a mentee is acceptable; adoration is not. If you find yourself thinking, “My mentee is right. I am a fantastic lawyer,” or “The mentee is so lucky to have me as a mentor,” then dial back. And a brief word to the mentee: It is OK to occasionally compliment the mentor but tie it to a specific compliment—not a generality—”You are a great cross examiner (swoon)” is unacceptable, but a “Thanks for explaining that tactic on cross, I never thought about it that way” is fine. (By the way, mentorship is not dating. The rule: establish boundaries, maintain boundaries.) Instead of validation, be guided by St. Luke 12:48: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”