Management Tip of the Day: Mentees should listen first
April 3rd, 2012 by admin

(Reuters) – In a mentoring relationship you should be less concerned about showing your mentor how brilliant you are, than listening carefully and absorbing their advice, says Harvard Business Review.

The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

“It might be tempting to use your mentoring sessions to impress your mentor — someone who can potentially advance your career. But most mentors are put off by protégés who do more self-promoting than learning.

Listen to your mentor, show humility, and make it clear that you take the counsel seriously. When you get feedback, don’t respond with, ‘Yes, I already knew that.’ Restate the advice in your own words to make sure you’ve got it right, and ask questions to clarify.

Mentors will often test you by gauging how you respond to feedback; and the better you are at receiving it, the more of it you will get.”

– Today’s management tip was adapted from the book, “Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need.”