The # 1 challenge in all mentoring relationships is time. This means that you may have to cancel your mentoring session on occasion. So, here is some advice on how to handle such a situation.
Whenever we have to cancel an appointment with someone, we usually call and we provide a reason for the cancellation. Not only do we provide a reason, but we provide a “good” reason. So here is my advice: “Having a good reason for cancelling your appointment, is not in and of itself, a good enough reason for cancelling your appointment!” I say this because, when cancelling your mentoring session, I would like to suggest that you ask yourself a secondary question: “What impact will my cancelling my session with my partner have on our relationship?”
If you are early in the relationship and this is your first or second meeting and you cancel, your partner is likely to think that you are not committed to the relationship and will begin to have doubts about this being a successful relationship. On the other hand, if you’ve been meeting regularly for the last few months, your cancelling may have little impact on the relationship because you’ve already built a level of trust and commitment.
Sometimes, despite best intentions and impact it may have, you may simply have to cancel due to other priorities. If this is the case, my further recommendation is that the next time you meet with your partner you review what happened to cause you to cancel and reiterate that this has no bearing on your commitment to your partner and the relationship. This will reassure your partner that all is well.