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The Mentoring Relationship

What each party owes the other, what makes it survivable for the senior person, and how it ends without either party losing something.

  1. 01

    When the Relationship Should End

    Most mentoring relationships outlast their usefulness by several years. Ending one well is a skill, and the failure to do it costs both parties more than the relationship was still returning.

  2. 02

    Being Mentored Well

    The junior party controls most of what determines whether the relationship produces anything, and almost nobody tells them so. Four things that are entirely within their control.

  3. 03

    What Each Party Owes

    Most mentoring relationships dissolve from unstated expectations rather than from anybody behaving badly. Four obligations on each side, worth naming in the first conversation.