Confidence is needed in several areas:

CONFIDENCE IN OURSELVES AS MENTORS:

• Knowing that we can connect with our potential and essence.
• To be able to show our vulnerability: accept our limitations and the possibility of failure.

CONFIDENCE IN THE ENTREPRENEUR:

• Knowing that you have all the potential; it is full and full of resources.

CONFIDENCE IN THE MENTORING RELATIONSHIP AND PROCESS:

• As a space in which to generate a safe link, in order to be able to take risks.
• In the encounter and in the process itself.

Life Mapping: a tool for building trust in mentoring

It is a graphical representation of your professional life where you can see your highlight the key momentsFirst job, successes and failures, promotions, highs and lows...

The use of Life Mapping in coaching/mentoring is appropriate at the beginning of a process as a way of getting to know the mentee better. (entrepreneur)The project is a space in which he talks about himself, his life, and the most important milestones that make it up.

THROUGH LIFE MAPPING WE CAN:

• Raise the level of awareness on: strengths, weaknesses, recurrent situations, professional preferences, areas of development...
• Identifying values and beliefs (mental models). 
• The steps to use this tool are as follows:

1. 1. Asking the entrepreneur to draw up a chart of his professional life highlighting the most significant milestones in his career (peak and trough moments) following a timeline.
   2. Exploring the graph.
   3. Learning collection.

• Key questions for the mentor:
  • Explore with curiosity: 

• • • ¿Qhat happened here?
    • What caused this fall?
    • ¿What did you do to get back on track?

There is also a close relationship between the control and trust. It is necessary to be aware that the desire to control diminishes trust. Therefore, when a mentor acts from the control: advises, judges, removes responsibility, puts the spotlight on oneself...

...and the impact that it generates in its entrepreneur is to transform him/her into a subject: passive, victim, who asks for magic solutions, and in whom there is an absence of responsibility.

On the contrary, when a mentor acts from the trustThe first one: it is in full presence, it maintains its capacity for astonishment, it lets curiosity and research flow... and the impact that it generates in its entrepreneur is to transform him into a subject: 100% responsible, in which there is self-acceptance, from which resources flow, and all his greatness and potential appear.

Building trust by showing "vulnerability

A definition of vulnerability: "capacity to be affected, wounded".

• Vulnerability generates attraction, is a source of trust.
• It demands coming out of our mask.
• Showing vulnerability generates examples in the mentee entrepreneur (we give him permission), connects us with our authenticity and from there with our best version and cements the process by opening it up to possibilities.

Moving out of the fear of vulnerability... gives us confidence.

WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?

• Let them hurt us.
• To be rejected for showing ourselves as we really are.
• Showing our weaknesses, clumsiness, follies, follies, stupidities...
• Losing control.

It is necessary to differentiate between limitation and vulnerability. Our limitations are not equal to our vulnerability. They can be a party, but that's the idea, the belief that we cannot show our limitations makes us feel vulnerable. Being able to show our vulnerability is what sets us free.

The more connected and familiar you are with your own vulnerability, the more prepared you are to be present with your entrepreneur. If we share our story with the other, we reveal that we need the other to know and understand us. We discover ourselves thanks to each other. We are beings of dialogic encounters. The other is a gift.

By identifying the mask and distinguish it from what we are protecting.In this way, we realise that it is not the vulnerability itself that drains our energy, but the determination to defend it, to hide it.

The exercise of reflecting on the possibility of removing the mask is a movement towards openness, towards the possibility of suffering. Sometimes there is a direct relationship between the vulnerability and trust. Both operate as communicating vessels.

It is therefore necessary to bear in mind that showing real vulnerability increases trust. However, Sometimes we find it difficult to show vulnerability because of the fears we mentioned earlier.

THEREFORE, A HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE INVOLVES:

• Acceptance of our vulnerability (not protecting it).
• Show ourselves as we are, not as we think we should be.
• Playing with this vulnerable space, without criticism or judgement, looking at the creative possibilities it offers.
• Have compassion for ourselves.

MORE TIPS THAT CAN HELP YOU:

• Empathic resonance between mentor and entrepreneur (+).
• Mirror system. Mentor-entrepreneur emotional contagion (+).
• Argyris' ladder of inferences in mentoring (+).
• How to achieve mentor-entrepreneur emotional attunement. Communication process (+).
• How to express mentor-entrepreneur empathy using non-verbal communication (+).
• How to build a trusting relationship between mentor and entrepreneur. Triple filter rule (+).
• Generating RAPPORT in the mentoring relationship with entrepreneurs (+).

The importance of generating trust and closeness in mentoring entrepreneurs. It is mentioned that trust is born in the encounter with the other and is defined as the firm hope we have in someone or something because we anticipate a value for which we do not yet have evidence.

To build trust, it is necessary to have confidence in ourselves as mentors, in the entrepreneur and in the mentoring relationship and process. The use of the "Life Mapping" tool is proposed to get to know the entrepreneur better, to identify values and beliefs, and to collect learnings. In addition, the importance of showing vulnerability and coming out of the mask to generate trust and connect with authenticity.

It is pointed out that vulnerability generates attraction and is a source of trust, and that the more connected and familiar we are with our own vulnerability, the more prepared we are to be present with the entrepreneur. Finally, it is mentioned that accepting vulnerability, showing ourselves as we are and having compassion for ourselves are key to increasing confidence in mentoring.

Learning methodology for a mentor to build trust and closeness with mentees

HERE I PROPOSE A LEARNING METHODOLOGY FOR A MENTOR TO BUILD TRUST AND CLOSENESS WITH THEIR MENTEE:

1. Prior knowledge: The mentor should previously know the mentee's skills, experience and needs in order to adapt the methodology to his/her profile.
2. Establish emotional attunement: From the beginning of the mentoring relationship, the mentor should establish an emotional attunement with the mentee so that the mentee feels that he or she is in an environment of trust. To do this, the mentor can use open-ended questions to get to know the mentee better, show interest in the mentee's life and actively listen to the mentee's responses.
3. Create a safe space: The mentor must ensure that the mentoring space is safe and confidential, where sensitive issues can be discussed without fear of judgement.
4. Show support and confidence: The mentor should convey a supportive and trusting attitude towards the mentee, showing a willingness to help him/her at all times. The mentor should also show confidence in the mentee's abilities and potential to achieve his or her goals.
5. Generate closeness: To generate closeness, the mentor can use techniques such as Life Mapping, to get to know the mentee better and create a space in which the mentee can talk about himself/herself, his/her achievements, failures, etc. They can also use dynamics to make the mentee feel comfortable and relaxed.
6. Show vulnerability: The mentor should be vulnerable, not afraid to share his or her own experiences, achievements and failures. This will help the mentee to feel more comfortable and establish a closer and more trusting relationship.
7. Provide specific feedback: The mentor should provide specific and constructive feedback to the mentee, so that the mentee knows where he/she is making progress and where he/she needs to do more work. This should be done in a respectful and motivating way, so that the mentee does not feel judged or demotivated.
8. Promote autonomy: The mentor should help the mentee to develop autonomy, so that he/she can make his/her own decisions and be responsible for his/her own achievements and failures. To do so, he/she must provide the mentee with the necessary tools to develop him/herself and make his/her own decisions.
9. Establish commitment: Finally, the mentor must establish a commitment with the mentee, in which the mentee commits to work on his/her personal and professional development, and the mentor commits to help him/her in any way he/she can.

In a nutshell, To build trust and closeness with the mentee, the mentor must establish emotional attunement, create a safe space, show support and trust, build closeness, show vulnerability, provide specific feedback, promote autonomy, and establish commitment.