Maximize Your Growth Experience: Set Your Mentoring Program Goal at Purdue

Congratulations! You are about to embark on a mentoring program. Mentorship will provide you a personalized opportunity to grow in your academic career and prepare for your professional future.

To get the most out of a mentoring program, we suggest that you begin by setting a goal.  Setting a goal creates motivation and behavior to accomplish the goal. Setting goals is also a way to be accountable for action. Researchers in goal-setting theory show that goals not only affect behavior, but they also help mobilize energy which leads to a higher effort overall. One study found that over 90% of the time, goals that were specific and challenging, but not overly challenging, led to higher performance when compared to easy goals or goals that were too generic*. (*Edward Locke, 1968)

We want you to have higher performance as a consequence of participating in this mentoring opportunity and that’s why we are asking you to take a minute to reflect on your goals. To make it easy, consider these common motivators for a mentoring relationship. One or more of these may resonate with you. 

“Set a goal that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning.” Anonymous

My goal is to: 

• Grow my skills and capabilities needed to excel in my current situation.

• Develop strategies that allow me to grow and succeed, in balance with my personal life.

• Cultivate the behaviors I need to prepare me to take on more responsibility.

• Grow my ability to work with others more effectively.

• Expand my ability to create impact and to be an agent of change.

Your next step will be to meet with a mentor about your goals. Why? A mentor offers guidance and support, to clarify your thinking, probe for deeper meaning, prioritize, add realism, and drive commitment. The key to a successful mentoring relationship is communication, commitment and clarity. Goal setting is the start of all three pillars of mentoring. You can prepare for the mentor conversation by identifying some specific examples of challenges, growth areas and requests of your mentor. 

In addition, the TaskHuman app also gives you unlimited access to over 1,000 coaches worldwide, who can offer an objective, external perspective that will enrich the mentoring experience.  A TaskHuman coach can help you shape the mentor conversation, and prepare you to get the most from your mentor. It will make for a win-win! 

Enjoy your Mentoring Program!