While it’s the mentor’s responsibility to set goals, the process of developing them should be collaborative. Mentors shouldn’t design them unilaterally. Instead, mentees should bring goals of their own that can be refined by the mentor’s experience.
Developing goals together helps with mentee buy-in. They’re more likely to internalize the objectives and live them out powerfully when they’ve had a say in the tasks they’re charged with. Otherwise, the goals may feel too much like an imposition — an order to be carried out instead of a personal objective. Goals that aren’t internalized are far more difficult to achieve.