Does the word "mentor" conjure up images of long engagements and complex processes? If so, it's not the kind of mentoring we're talking about. Employees need mentoring from their managers and often that simply means they want more time with you. They want some coaching, feedback, advice and straight talk from you about what they need to do to get ahead.

Here are some simple "to-dos" to help you move into that mentoring role easily and provide a way for you to remember the essentials.

So What's a Mentor to Do?

Model: Be aware of your own influence as a role modeling, and point out others who are good role models for your people.

Encourage: Support your people in the risk-taking that is essential to their growth.

Nurture: Get to know your people's unique skills and capabilities. Work with them to do the most with their talents.

Teach Organizational Reality: Tell it like it is. Help them avoid those organizational minefields that are never written about in any policy manual.

Model: Be Aware

Interestingly enough, your people want to know that you don't always have all the right answers all the time. So our question is -- how real can you afford to be? We think the answer is "pretty real." For example, let's say you were unable to hold to a predetermined agenda at an important meeting. Debriefing with an employee ("Here's what I think happened -- did you see how I was sidetracked by Max's question?") is a wonderful way of mentoring.

If you believe that your people need to see you as having the answers and making no mistakes, then this aspect of the mentoring process will be the most difficult for you. Modeling as a mentor means watching for opportunities to show how you've coped and giving permission to others to do the same.

Encourage: Support Your People

Encouragement truly is all in the eye of the perceiver. For example, an employee says, "He never encouraged me," while her manager says, "I encouraged her all the time." How can you encourage effectively?

Some managers encourage naturally, through casual conversations. Here's the easiest approach to offering encouragement, just in time. It consists of three steps:

1. Recognize: Notice something.
2. Verbalize: Say something.
3. Mobilize: Do something.

Any of these three steps individually will provide encouragement, but all three combined are much more powerful. For example: Liliana gives a beautifully designed flyer to her manager and says, "I've been doing some fiddling with that new graphics program and the laser printer."

• Recognize -- Manager: "Hmm, looks great. I didn't know you like this kind of stuff." (Good)
• Recognize and Verbalize -- Manager: "This is really good. Is this something you'd like to do more of?" (Better)
• Recognize, Verbalize, and Mobilize -- Manager: "If you like this kind of work, why not let Marc in Graphics know, and while you're there, find out when he's offering his next graphics course." (Best)

Impromptu mentoring of this type is even more important if you have limited time to meet with employees. For many employees, these simple interactions will send a strong message that they matter.