David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson* say mentors play a pivotal role and it’s essential that continues during these difficult times.
The current pandemic has many more people teleworking and adapting work to the virtual environment.
While continuing to lead direct reports, don’t forget your mentees.
Great mentors show up and engage with mentees in crises and uncertain times, even when that requires creativity and adaptation.
There are several reasons not to let your commitments slide.
First, mentors play a pivotal role in safeguarding retention and building organisational commitment, particularly in times of crisis.
Research shows that when mentors are actively engaged with mentees, those mentees form stronger emotional bonds to the organisation, report higher job satisfaction, and perceive greater support from the organisation broadly.
Second, at their best, mentorships are life-altering relationships that inspire mutual learning and development.
Every growth-fostering interaction in a strong mentorship bolsters a mentee’s professional and personal growth, identity, self-worth, and self-efficacy.
Facing an uncertain future, mentees — now more than ever — will leverage connections with mentors to lower anxiety, overcome imposter syndrome, and grasp hold of their mentor’s hopeful vision of how they can not only weather the storm but continue to thrive in their careers.
Finally, moments of adversity offer golden opportunities to create indelible mental maps of what excellent mentoring looks like.
In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek reminds us that leaders don’t always appreciate the impact of their example on those they lead.
Just as good leaders care for their people first, so too should mentors demonstrate commitment to their mentees through ongoing communication and expressions of care.
Do this well, and you’ll equip your mentees with a template for excellent in extremis mentorship.
Whether you typically meet in person on a regular basis or haven’t spoken in a while, now is the time to reach out to your mentees.
There is good evidence that mentoring via real-time videoconferencing yields equivalent outcomes to in-person mentoring.
Alternatively, methods such as email, chats, and text messaging allow flexibility in keeping the lines of communication open but are more limited and are prone to misunderstandings.
In ordinary circumstances, many mentors focus on the career functions of mentoring.
Although those remain important, the psychosocial functions — acceptance, affirmation, friendship, emotional support, reassurance — are especially valuable in uncertain times.
These functions tap into empathy and compassion and involve deliberate expressions of care.
Demonstrating emotional and social support might begin with generous listening to understand your mentees’ struggles and concerns.
Acknowledge and validate the challenges they are facing and the distress they are feeling.
Show vulnerability and share your own experiences.
Discuss how the break in physical routines, the restricted access to others, and the bombardment of information can feel overwhelming and isolating.
Give mentees permission to take a break from the news and their work routines to engage in self-care.
And remember that several career functions of mentoring can continue regardless of social distancing.
Use some of your new discretionary time to leverage your social capital and sponsor mentees, opening virtual doors and making valuable introductions.
Create a safe space for career conversations.
Pass along credible inside intelligence about ramifications of the shutdown and provide opportunities for visibility in the virtual workplace by copying mentees on emails and including them in online meetings when appropriate.
Online meetings afford a new setting in which to model and teach new skills and behaviours — and the learning may flow in both directions.
Mentors might discover that their mentees have much to teach them about virtual work and new technologies.
And as many people are discovering, online meetings have their own rules, norms, and best practices.
Both mentor and mentee should adopt a learning mindset.
We offer several additional recommendations for continuing and deepening your mentorships in a time of social distancing:
Communicate with your mentees, but don’t assume you understand their situation.
Everyone is already experiencing plenty of uncertainty and new demands.
Let your mentoring be something mentees can depend on without any pressure to reciprocate.
Make adjustments to established norms.
If a mentee is eager to continue with tele-mentoring, figure out a new rhythm and the best medium for meeting online, which may require changes to previous routines.
Be authentic, and welcome reciprocity.
If you have children at home because schools are closed, or if you are occupying your pet’s favourite spot in the house while you telework, don’t hide those personal challenges.
Use them to “keep it real” and to develop a friendly connection with your mentees.
Sharing your situation makes it more comfortable for mentees to share theirs.
And don’t miss the opportunity for a good laugh if kids or pets integrate themselves into a meeting!
Show care and compassion.
Test your listening skills and focus on your mentee’s concerns.
Demonstrate that you hear and understand; in that way, you can help validate and normalise mentees’ emotions and experiences.
Address concerns through coping and mastery skills.
Remember: You don’t need to rescue or fix anything for your mentees.
Instead, offer support that will enable them to overcome challenges on their own.
Provide strategies, skills, and resources that they can use to learn and to grow their efficacy.
Although social distancing is necessary during the pandemic, it doesn’t mean you can’t maintain close emotional and relational proximity with your mentees.
Use this moment in time to explore new ways of staying connected, show that you care, validate feelings of distress, develop talent, and challenge yourself to get out of your mentoring comfort zone.
* David G. Smith is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College. W. Brad Johnson is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law at the US Naval Academy and a Faculty Associate in the Graduate School at Johns Hopkins University.
This article first appeared at hbr.org.
