'Activating' the connection

Arguably the most important time in the mentoring relationship is at the start.
'You never get a second chance to make a first impression'.

If you are going to undertake the role of mentor or indeed mentee, then to share, guide, develop, support etc you need to have a relationship that works.

If you look at the at the FA Learning cycle for example it sits brilliantly with the 'circle of mentoring'.
Connect (agree outcomes) Activate, Demonstrate & consolidate.

Focus on the 'Connecting'
This is the difficult part for some, honesty and openness are key starting blocks but if you are to mentor someone then take some simple but effective steps first.
As mentioned in my first post, 'hi I'm your mentor' may not have the effect you are looking for, so:

1) What do we already know about the mentee/coach? (Common ground)
2) Connect to this prior knowledge (club, job, school, work) Build.
3) Share info, experiences, hobbies, thoughts. Build.

By doing this you are already 'activating' that connection. The less the initial meeting is about you & is actually about 'us' then the relationship is underway.

You may well find that during the activation stage the 'you' will come more to the fore with regards to your experience, opinions & background, however this will probably come out of questions from the mentee/coach from them asking and you not 'just telling'.
Hopefully you can now start to see the analogy in dealing with players here?

Ultimately, it's about people, so again as in my last post, make mentoring simple, make it about sharing relevant knowledge to support the development of people.
Finally, think about it? Set the environment, set the parameters and enjoy the learning journey because invariably this will be the outcome for both.