Keep your relationship appropriate

Section 1 : Set expectations up front

At the outset, the mentor and mentee establish ground rules for their relationship. This discussion will set baseline boundaries and define what’s fair for the mentor and mentee to expect from one another. It’s a critical understanding because both roles involve emotional labor, and if you don’t establish constraints, you run the risk that one party might push the other into unwanted territory and inadvertently violate their trust.

Topics to consider include:

• Where or in what format you’ll meet and how you’ll structure your conversations.
  
  
• What each of you is willing to share and what you aren’t.
  
  
• How much of your personal lives are open to discussion.
  
  
• How you’ll handle any conflicts of interest that might arise.
  
  
• How you’ll measure success and what might trigger the end of the relationship.

Both mentor and mentee should be upfront about what they want and what they’re willing to contribute. The more thorough this initial discussion, the less likely it is that you’ll encounter uncomfortable surprises.