"Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen and a push in the right direction"

As you can see from this video mentoring in practice is quite different from assessing coaches and / or providing feedback or advice. This is due to the close interaction required between mentor and mentee and specifically the way the mentor uses questioning throughout the session to draw out and make improvements to the coach and the coaching being delivered.

Note that the mentor and mentee have agreed the particular area of development which they want to focus on in the session. This enables them to be focused and achieve a specific goal which is being better at something rather than say just knowing more which doesn't necessarily equate to being better at anything.

The position of the mentor is very important to be able to converse and question the coach without pulling them off task or disrupting the session. On this It is important that the athletes are aware of the mentors role as it could be potentially be off putting not knowing what the situation was.

It's really important to have a more in depth review when in a mentoring relationship to delve deeper in certain areas and further develop the relationship. Challenging the coach in a constructive way can be difficult and is a skill that needs worked at. The initial perception can be challenge is negative and therefore bad. However, challenge is positive and encourages reflection and critical thinking which leads to learning and growth.

Remember you are their mentor and 'friend' not their best friend! Your job is not to a competition to be liked the most. The coach will respect you more for being honest because that means you care about their development.

In this video The mentor starts the relationship well by setting the boundaries of what he expects. He is accommodating but clear that the coach must do the major leg work. Make sure that you are clear what you want form the coaches at each stage. A significant part of the mentoring role is encouraging the coaches to take responsibility for their own learning and not to be spoon fed knowledge.