With your program's goals and outcomes firmly established, the target audience identified, a timeline established and your organizing committee, if you are using one, in place; it is time to focus on the participants. We will start with identifying, recruiting, selecting and training your mentors.

What Qualities Make One a Good Mentor?

Establishing the Mentor Criteria: The Mentor Qualifications Description

What Qualities Make One a Good Mentee?

Establishing the Mentee Criteria: The Mentee Qualifications Description

What Qualities Make One a Good Mentor?

A mentor is a guide, a coach, a confidante, a teacher and a sponsor. To that end, a good mentor candidate is generally one characterized by:

• Well-developed listening and interpersonal skills;
  
  
• The ability to use non-judgmental questioning and to relate well with people who want to learn;
  
  
• A caring, genuine and empathetic demeanor; with a desire to help and develop mentees;
  
  
• A willingness to take the necessary time to develop a relationship with a the mentee;
  
  
• Holds specific and relevant knowledge (e.g. their field, their job area and/or their discipline);
  
  
• Open-minded with a flexible attitude and the recognition of one's own need for support;
  
  
• Can offer new or different perspectives;
  
  
• Trustworthiness and the ability to ensure confidentiality;
  
  
• Experienced with facing any or all of the following: challenges; being helped themselves; working with others; achieving success; dealing with failure; being responsible; and/or dealing with stress;
  

• Experienced at managing people;
  
  
• A willingness to share their knowledge, connections and experiences;
  
  
• The ability to network as well as access to a network of colleagues; and
  
  
• The ability and desire to be supportive of a less established member of the professional community.

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Establishing the Mentor Criteria: The Mentor Qualifications Description

Identifying what qualities make for a good mentor is the first step; drafting written criteria is an important second step for establishing a consistent and orderly means for mentor selection.

Your written criteria might look like a variation on a job description and include any of the bullets above as well as other desirable traits you have identified. Including requirements for participation that you deem important may also be helpful such as:

• The ability to participate in a year long program and commit to the process;
  
  
• A willingness to attend the program's group gatherings as well as individual mentee meetings; and/or
  
  
• Has more than 10 years experience as an arts administrator and five years in the local arts community.
  
  

While you are brainstorming, think about your organization's and community's needs or consider routing the criteria to other staff members or committee members for further input.
If you are going to use this document for recruiting, think about including a definition of what being a mentor means as well as your program goals. Include the expectations for service as well (e.g. how long will their participation be required, etc.).

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What Qualities Make One a Good Mentee?

Like mentors, mentees come from a variety of backgrounds and have a variety of needs and expectations. However, it is generally true that in order to have a successful and satisfying mentoring experience, mentees benefit from having the following qualities:

• Self-awareness;
  
  
• A high level of motivation;
  
  
• The ability to articulate expectations and objectives;
  
  
• Actively responsible for his or her own learning;
  
  
• The ability to meet commitments;
  
  
• The ability to accept feedback and act on it;
  
  
• Well-developed listening skills;
  
  
• Open-minded with a flexible attitude; and
  
  
• Trustworthiness and the ability to ensure confidentiality.
  
  

Mentees have the most success with mentoring programs when they are able to clearly state their goals and objectives for the process, thereby allowing their mentor to help them work toward targeted skills between meetings with their mentor.

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Establishing the Mentee Criteria: The Mentee Qualifications Description

Identifying what qualities make for a good mentee is the first step; drafting written criteria is an important second step for establishing a consistent and orderly means for mentee selection.
Like the mentor's criteria, the mentee's might look like a variation on a job description and include any of the bullets above as well as other desirable traits you have identified. Including requirements for participation that you deem important may also be helpful such as:

• The ability to participate in a year long program and commit to the process;
  
  
• A willingness to attend the program's group gatherings as well as individual meetings with their mentor meetings; and/or
  
  
• Has fewer than 10 years experience as an arts administrator and five years in the local arts community;
  
  

While you are brainstorming, you might ask other staff members or committee members for further input. If you are going to use this document for recruiting, consider including a definition of what being a mentee means as well as your program goals. Include the expectations for service as well (e.g. how long will their participation be required etc.)

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