"Get the Mentoring Equation Right" - Whitney Johnson's Mentoring Presentation

If you didn't get the chance to hear Whitney Johnson's presentation on mentoring (or if you did and want to revisit what she talked about), you can find an outline of her talk on Harvard Business Review's blog: "Get the Mentoring Equation Right" (as well as a preface to her presentation on her blog, Dare to Dream.) 

In the HBR article, Whitney shares an equation that she and a colleague, Bob Moesta, created to analyze and assess what makes a successful mentor/mentee relationship. 

Whitney writes:

I used to be able to say "yes" to pretty much anyone who reached out to me for mentoring. As requests increase, however, and wonderfully so, I fear that I am going to overlook those with promise who don't quite know how to package themselves. Worse yet is the thought that I may inadvertently rebuff someone simply because I haven't managed my time well, neglecting to give them the courtesy of a proper no.

 My quandary has led to a considered, lengthy discussion with Bob Moesta, a demand-side innovation expert, about how to decide whom to mentor.

Bob sees mentoring as the balance of two worlds that overlap for a period of time and a certain amount of effort.

See the equation that Bob and Whitney created, and read more about this approach to mentoring here.




What are your thoughts about the mentoring equation? What have you found helps make a successful mentor/mentee relationship? What have good mentors done to help you? What, as a mentee, do you look for in a mentor?