I’m in my late 30s (married) and I’d been mentoring a woman at work who is just out of university in her early 20s, and it felt like we worked quite well together. I felt like she was a good person, hardworking and a good learner and I feel like I should help her career as much as I can.
I’m not exactly a people person though, and am constantly concerned whether I’m doing things right, whether I’m making a mistake by allowing her to occasionally talk about some personal subjects, whether I’m making her dependent on me in any way, whether I’m too concerned about her well being, am I setting the right boundaries and so on. I do like mentoring though, and I’ll be looking forward to more opportunities (both men and women).
Could you share some of your tips for mentoring younger women? What kind of boundaries are good? And what could be indications that I’m doing things wrong?
Thank you