I'm a former senior leader at Amazon. Mentorships can be a waste of everyone's time unless you do it right — here's how.

• Brandon Southern is the former head of analytics at eBay, Amazon, and GameStop. 
• He writes that many want membership but most don't get value from their mentor/mentee relationships.
• Southern advises mentees to do their homework to find success. 

I've had the opportunity to mentor several people during my 20-year career in tech as a senior leader at companies like Amazon and eBay. 

I've learned there is a right way to build a mentor/mentee relationship. The alternative way leaves mentees frustrated in their lack of improvement and mentors feeling like they wasted their time.

But mentorship doesn't have to be this way.