Inspiring Discussions, Best Questions

Katy Dickinson, mentor at Elmwood Jail, Milpitas, CA 2016

Inspiring Discussions

Every once in a while, even the best mentoring relationships run dry.  The Mentor and Mentee have gotten to know each other and are working on their Learning Goals but need a little inspiration for their next discussion.  Here is some homework: pick one of these videos to watch before your next meeting.  Where are you inspired to go now?

• • “Hans Rosling: The best stats you’ve ever seen” TED Talk 2006. Video 19 Minutes.
  • “Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dream” Carnegie Mellon University 2007. Video 1 hour 16 minutes.
  • “A Fair(y) Use Tale” by Eric Faden, Media Education Foundation 2007. Video 10 minutes.
  • “Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?” TED Talk 2007. Video 20 Minutes.
    
  • “On Leadership” Ivan Sutherland – Sun Laboratories. Sun Microsystems Mentoring Program. 8 linked YouTube Videos – just under an hour total: 2008.
  • “My 12 pairs of legs” by Aimee Mullins, TED 2009. Video 10 Minutes.
  • “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story” TED Talk 2009. Video 18 Minutes.
  • “Duy-Loan Le 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration Keynote” Anita Borg Institute 2010. Video 34 minutes.
  • “Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us” by Dan Pink, RSA Animate 2010. Video 10 Minutes.
  • “The value of boredom- Genevieve Bell” TEDxSydney 2011. Video 15 Minutes.
    
  • “Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability” TED 2011. Video 20 Minutes.
  • “Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy” TED 2012. Video 10 Minutes.
  • “Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are” TED 2012. Video 21 Minutes.
  • “Taylor Mali – Like Lily Like Wilson” Def Jam Poetry 2013. Video 2 Minutes.
  • “Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion” TED 2013. Video 8 Minutes.
  • “Accents” 2013 poem by Denice Frohman.Live at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Video 2 Minutes.
  • “Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit” TED 2014. Video 6 Minutes.
  • “Clint Smith: The danger of silence” TED 2014. Video 4 Minutes.
  • “Ziauddin Yousafzai – My daughter, Malala” TED 2014. Video 16 Minutes.
  • “Mentoring Best Practices Panel” 10 March 2016, presented by the TechWomen Alumnae Council and Ericsson Women in Leadership. Moderated by Katy Dickinson.
    Video 1 hour 12 minutes
  • “Who are TechWomen?” 2016 by the Institute of International Education, Video 2 minutes.

Published as a Mentoring Standard web page 6 Jun 2016. Updated 23 Nov 2018.

Katy Dickinson – TechWomen Panel: Best Practices in Mentoring, 2019

Best Questions

Sometimes mentors and mentees work together on a project. Here are some of the best questions to help structure such work:

1. What problem are you solving? (define the challenge)
2. How do you know when you are done? (success/completion metrics)
3. Who is your customer? (target audience)
4. What is your data? (quantification)
5. What difference will it make? (impact)

Published as a Mentoring Standard web page 9 September 2019, updated 18 Sep 2019.

More: 9 Questions Before Starting a Mentoring Program
More: Research and Publications