tzukitchan's Quick Takes

Who should read this: EA or AIS Groups Mentors

epistemic status: quickly written mini-memo, not Claude-generated 

I found lots of success with adopting this "Coaching" mindset framing going into my mentorship calls, that can strike the "firm but patient" balance: 

• this is possibly a (good) remnant from my past weightlifting-coaching backgrounds

1. accountability
   1. so much value of paid coaching clients is from the social accountability of showing up to the scary arena together
2. where you're coming from as a mentor...
   1. from a place of "i'm rooting for you and i want you to succeed which is why i'm giving you this feedback" and "i believe you can win the Olympic gold medal if you fix xyz"
3. give concrete pointers
   1. as often as possible, don't be nebulous
   2. eg. say less "go to gym"; say more "show up every Monday at 10am to 11am and do these five workouts, three sets of 10 reps each in this specific order."
4. points out errors with immediacy;
   1. build a relationship where error-correction is the norm
   2. eg. "[mid-screen share] ... wait wait go back, i think you should remove the picture of Terminator on the poster, because-"

leave mentees feeling like they worked with (an actual) coach and not someone they just answer to ;)