In this episode of the Modern Web podcast, our host, Rob Ocel (@robocell), discusses mentorship with Ray Gesualdo (@RayGesualdo).

Guests: Ray Gesualdo (@RayGesualdo) - Staff UI Engineer, SalesLoft

Topics discussed:

• What has mentorship meant to our careers
• What is mentorship and how does it differ from things like sponsorship or instruction?
• Is it really that hard to start mentorship at your company? What does it take to start a mentorship culture?
• Why the ability to be open, vulnerable, and honest is critical to a successful mentorship relationship
• How do you pick a mentor? What should someone look for in a mentor? What should mentors look for from their mentees?
• Why companies and senior developers need junior developers to advance their own careers and solve for their blindspots.
• How important is it to solicit feedback from others? How do you act on that feedback? How do you better ask for feedback?
• The importance of listening in mentorship relationship and not trying to just "solve" things, and how to work around that as a mentor
• How to negotiate boundaries in mentorship relationships and navigate the power imbalance
• Can someone be junior to mentor?
• How do teams where all developers are considered peers set up successful mentorship programs? Do all mentor relationships need a senior and a junior?
• What is radical honesty, Radical Candor, and ruinous empathy? How to be empathetic but also deliver hard truths and actionable feedback

This episode is sponsored by NativeScript & This Dot Labs.