The Match Game
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Share this article on Google+ A mentoring program is much more than a bank of potential mentees. It’s a service that carefully pairs two business professionals together so they can discuss ideas, share their experiences and learn from each other.
As a mentee, you can appreciate how important it is to find a compatible mentor. But have you ever wondered how our mentoring coordinators go about finding the right person to guide you in your entrepreneurial journey? We sat down with Dany Lizotte, Réseau Mentorat Montreal coordinator, to find out more.
Q. To start, how exactly would you describe what’s involved in matching up mentors and mentees?
Dany: The pairing process is about finding the right mentor for the right mentee. It’s an extremely important step in the overall mentorship experience for both people.
My first conversation with the prospective mentee is very helpful in learning more about their specific needs and what makes them tick. The human element is vital to the mentoring process, so we focus on finding a good fit between them and the mentor we pick for them.
You know you’ve found a good pair when they connect and actually look forward to their sessions.
Q. When you’re interviewing potential mentees, what are you looking for? What kind of questions do you ask?
Dany: I don’t just go down the registration form and tick a bunch of boxes. I try to find out about their background, the kind of business challenges they have faced, what the future holds for them. Also, and this is very important, what kind of entrepreneur are they? What motivates them? What are their fears? What are they most proud of?
It’s a great opportunity to get to know more about them and become better acquainted with the person behind the business owner.
I also ask them who would be their “dream mentor.” What kind of personality traits appeal to them? Who do they like “talking shop” with? Who inspires them?
Getting to talk to such a passionate group of entrepreneurs is one of the best perks of my job.
Q. Do you sometimes get special requests from mentees about the kind of mentor they want to be paired with? If so, do you follow these instructions to the letter, or do you sometimes dig a little deeper because you know they would benefit from another approach?
Dany: It doesn’t happen very often, but some entrepreneurs do come in with a fairly detailed list of what they’re looking for. Most tend to have faith in the process, however.
When I do get special requests, I focus on the specific characteristics (personality traits, for example). If I can honour the request (for example, pair them with a male or female mentor), I will. Otherwise, I’ll drill down a little more to understand their reasons. The conversation is always guaranteed to be a fascinating one!
Q. Now that we have a better idea of what is involved in bringing a mentor and a mentee together, can you outline a few of the factors that contribute to the success of a mentorship dyad? Does the pairing process play a decisive role in whether a dyad works out or not?
Dany: A good dyad is two people who connect, who respect each other and who appreciate the added value of the other individual and their roles they each play. Again, the human element is critical here. Putting the right pair together from the get-go certainly increases the chances that a given dyad will flourish.
Q. What happens if there’s just not any chemistry between the two individuals, either the first time they talk or after a few sessions? How long do they have to change their minds?
Dany: Sometimes, no matter how diligently we work behind the scenes, some pairs just don’t hit it off. There are lots of reasons why that might be, and a less-than-optimal match is one of them. But we ask people to give it a go for a few sessions before they do anything about it. To get beyond the initial awkwardness, ensure the mentor-mentee foundations are solidly in place and start to establish a feeling of trust. All of these are absolute musts and sometimes take more than one meeting to emerge. But if after all that, things aren’t clicking, we will go back to the drawing board, no problem whatsoever.
The whole idea of the mentoring process is to create that space where entrepreneurs can grow and build on their skills. My role is to ensure that the expectations of mentees and mentors alike are met and their true personalities shine through.