The Graybeards Guide to Mentoring Younger Men is available now!
Men in their 20’s and 30’s discover that Google doesn’t have all the answers they need. They’re eager for mentors! There are millions of men age 50 and up – I call them Graybeards – who can help them. It’s a win-win, because mentoring younger men is how Graybeards continue to improve and find satisfaction. This book gives Graybeards practical advice to be an effective mentor:
•Who you could mentor and the easy way to get started
•A list of questions and topics to make conversations powerful
•Suggestions on listening, sharing stories, and giving advice
•How to avoid traps and common mistakes
Bonus resources:
Why Mentoring Isn’t Happening
You hear it and of course you nod in agreement: “People need mentoring.”
(I’m writing now to experienced people who have the potential to mentor a less experienced person. I’ll save “how to approach someone to mentor you” for another time. Even the most experienced people still need mentors.)
So why doesn’t mentoring happen more? I observe several reasons:
- People like the abstract idea of mentoring, but not actual conversations. We need more mature people who think highly of helping real individuals around them.
- Fear: People think it’s a risk to their own job if they help someone else improve their skills.
- Misplaced humility: “Me, mentor? I’m a mess, I’m still learning, I’ve made so many mistakes, I’m not qualified.”
- Misunderstanding the process: Thinking mentoring is all about telling, rather than mostly asking questions and conversations over time.
- Arrogance: “I can tell them what to do, and they’ll look up to me!”
- Waiting for someone to give you a program on exactly what to say and do.
- Confusing mentoring with teaching and coaching. Teaching is about giving someone information or a skill they didn’t have before. Coaching is helping some improve a skill they already have. Mentoring is more life on life – it’s about exploring questions and concerns you can’t answer with a Google search. We all need all three.
- Failing to create time and space for mentoring conversations to happen.
Did you see yourself in there anywhere? If so, what will you do about it?