Mentoring Path
Mentoring Path
I’ve recently completed a mentoring course and, alongside it, read “Powerful Questions for Coaches and Mentors” as part of the recommended materials. The book turned out to be incredibly inspiring and helped me look at the whole mentoring process from a wider perspective.
What mentoring really is
I keep noticing that expectations around mentoring are often misaligned.
From the mentee’s side, people tend to expect a “teacher”: someone who explains everything, gives direct answers, and solves problems for them.
But mentoring doesn’t work this way. The goal is not to provide ready-made answers, but to help the mentee understand how to approach similar questions on their own next time.
Not to solve the problem for them, but to guide them through possible routes toward a solution.
From the mentor’s side, I often see the opposite extreme: distancing from responsibility for the process.
Sometimes mentors feel fully accountable for outcomes and blame themselves when a mentee isn’t progressing.
Sometimes the assumption is that if something goes wrong, you should simply “find a different mentor.”
But the real balance is somewhere in the middle.
A mentor is responsible for structure, clarity, and the quality of the relationship. They can offer direction and help navigate through uncertainty.
But the actual actions, decisions, and progress belong to the mentee.
Without internal motivation and the desire to grow, mentoring simply doesn’t work.
From the mentee’s side, people tend to expect a “teacher”: someone who explains everything, gives direct answers, and solves problems for them.
But mentoring doesn’t work this way. The goal is not to provide ready-made answers, but to help the mentee understand how to approach similar questions on their own next time.
Not to solve the problem for them, but to guide them through possible routes toward a solution.
From the mentor’s side, I often see the opposite extreme: distancing from responsibility for the process.
Sometimes mentors feel fully accountable for outcomes and blame themselves when a mentee isn’t progressing.
Sometimes the assumption is that if something goes wrong, you should simply “find a different mentor.”
But the real balance is somewhere in the middle.
A mentor is responsible for structure, clarity, and the quality of the relationship. They can offer direction and help navigate through uncertainty.
But the actual actions, decisions, and progress belong to the mentee.
Without internal motivation and the desire to grow, mentoring simply doesn’t work.
What I’ve realized about the mentor’s role
One of the biggest insights for me was understanding how much preparation mentoring actually requires.
It takes patience, responsibility, thoughtful planning, and a genuine willingness to support someone’s growth.
A significant part of the work happens outside the sessions, and many people never see this side of mentoring at all.
For me, this course became a way to strengthen and refine my existing mentoring experience and continue developing this skill further.
It takes patience, responsibility, thoughtful planning, and a genuine willingness to support someone’s growth.
A significant part of the work happens outside the sessions, and many people never see this side of mentoring at all.
For me, this course became a way to strengthen and refine my existing mentoring experience and continue developing this skill further.
About “Powerful Questions for Coaches and Mentors”
The book was a great addition to the course—useful not only for mentors but also for anyone looking for more clarity in life, work, or career direction.
It offers a wide range of questions that help expand perspective, challenge assumptions, and uncover blind spots.
Here are a few questions that stood out to me (I think they can be useful for you also):
About resilience:
It offers a wide range of questions that help expand perspective, challenge assumptions, and uncover blind spots.
Here are a few questions that stood out to me (I think they can be useful for you also):
About resilience:
Work process:
Prioritizing:
Procratination, staing in focus:
Overall reflection regarding work-life balance:
