Advocacy Matters - Spring 2024

ing commutes to and from the office every day;
these are ideal times to pop in my airpods for
an uninterrupted private chat with a mentee,
away from the office. I set aside time for lunch
every day anyway, so it’s easy to invite a mentee
to catch up over a shared meal. By layering
mentorship onto existing tasks, I’m not working
extra hours - I’m just enriching my current
working (and commuting) hours.
3) Be clear about your boundaries
and expectations
The complaints I hear about mentoring often
center on communication failures. A mentee
emails or calls her mentor on the weekends,
because she doesn’t want to interrupt her
mentor’s work hours. The mentor does not
want to discourage contact but is quietly seething
that her precious free time is taken up with
non-billable work tasks. Or maybe a mentee
is seeking broad guidance, and the mentor
prefers giving practical advice about specific
issues. Maybe a mentor wants to wade into
personal matters in a discussion about work/
life balance, but the mentee is uncomfortable
discussing her private life.
Being clear and straightforward from the
outset about your expectations of each other,
your boundaries, your preferred level of
interaction, your communication preferences
and any off-limits topics (e.g., contentious political
issues, gossip, or personal issues) will go
a long way to prevent those frustrations from
arising in the first place. Your expectations and
boundaries will likely change over time as the
relationship evolves. Keep checking in with
each other proactively to ensure you are on
the same page.
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