MENTORING – SHARING THE BENEFIT OF YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH A MENTEE.........
Colin Thompson
Managing Partner Cavendish/Author/International Speaker/Mentor/Partner
These days, mentoring is defined – more often than not – in distinction to coaching.
Mentorship
Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but they must have a certain area of expertise. It is a learning and development partnership between someone with vast experience and someone who wants to learn. Interaction with an expert may also be necessary to gain proficiency with/in cultural tools. Mentorship experience and relationship structure affect the "amount of psychosocial support, career guidance, role modeling, and communication that occurs in the mentoring relationships in which the protégés and mentors engaged."
That’s easy to do, but if I were to do so, it would pre-suppose that you know what Mentoring is. And you may do. But, what if you do not?
I have set myself by sharing the task of describing mentoring without mentioning coaching again in this article.
What is Mentoring?
A mentor is a source of:
ü wisdom
ü experience
ü knowledge
ü advice
ü support
They can also act as a role model, and show belief in the mentee’s potential. What they do not do is offer support outside of the mentoring relationship, as an advocate for their mentee. Mentees must stand on their own two feet. To cite the cliché, a mentor’s job is to share with the mentee to fish, rather than do the fishing for them.
Definition of Mentoring
The Mentoring book is an excellent source of guidance for would-be mentors and organisers looking to set up mentoring schemes.
Mentoring is a learning relationship between two people. It requires a range of human qualities such as trust, commitment and emotional engagement. It includes a range of skills including listening, questioning, challenge and support. Mentoring has a time scale. In some contexts it is a life long relationship, in others it may be a few months.
Types of Mentoring
In the world of business and organisational management, the authors of the Mentoring Pocketbook identify four types of mentoring:
- Developmental mentoring
- Helps the mentor learn and develop in their role – often as a part of an organisational scheme. The commonest form in the UK.
- Sponsorship mentoring
- Helps the mentee move forward in their career. The commonest form in the US.
- Executive mentoring
- Helps executive mentees work on their performance and development as a leader. Often focuses on the political aspects of the role and long-term career thinking.
- Reverse mentoring
- Here, the mentor is younger and has less experience than the mentee. Their role is to pass on their experience and understanding of the culture they inhabit, for example in their technical role or simply as a younger person.
Why Work with a Mentor?
I don’t want to assume that the benefits of having a wise counsellor are obvious. Indeed, it’s fair to say that not every mentor will necessarily live up to that soubriquet!
But the mentoring relationship always has the capacity to be both challenging and rewarding for mentor and mentee. It often has a positive long-term career impact for the mentee, and is rewarding for the mentor.
For the mentee, it can:
ü Provide impartial advice, guidance, and encouragement
ü Help with solving problems and making decisions
ü Guide and develop political and social awareness and acumen
ü Improve self-awareness and self-confidence
ü Lead to learning and professional development
ü Facilitate review and reflection on experiences
Why be a Mentor?
On the face of it, there’s less benefit in the relationship for the mentor. They must give up their time to share their wisdom for someone else’s benefit. But it should be a form of paying back a debt for the opportunities they had, and paying forward to the next generation.
But, most mentors find the practice deeply enriching. Not only is it a pleasure to give help and guidance, but we learn from the process. Mentors often find that the role helps them grow and develop too.
For the mentor, it can:
ü Enhance their own job satisfaction – adding a new dimension to their role
ü Create a professional relationship that links them to the next generation
ü Give a chance to reflect on their own experiences and practices
ü Be a source of endorsement and affirmation
ü Drive reflection on how their organisation works – operationally and politically
ü Help to develop advanced listening, speaking, and other interpersonal skills
ü Offer the reward of seeing someone else develop and grow as a professional
Who are Ideal People for Mentoring Roles?
Anyone who cares enough to take on the role can be a good mentor to the right person. And, while training is available (and a good idea), it’s more about the personal qualities that good mentors bring to their mentorship role. These include:
ü Knowledge and experience
ü Patience and a non-judgemental approach
ü …but a preparedness to challenge thinking robustly
ü Questioning and listening
ü Clarity of thinking
ü A deep and broad perspective on things and a sense of proportion
ü … and good sense of humour?
ü Strong business and political acumen
What are the Roles of a Mentor
ü Manage the relationship
ü Encourage
ü Nurture
ü Teach
ü Offer mutual respect
ü Respond to the learner’s needs
The Focus of a Mentor
The mentor’s focus is more often on the politics and the unwritten rules of the profession or organisation, than it is on the technical aspects of the mentee’s role. It is also on the pragmatics of getting things done, rather than on the mechanics.
I would also say that there is a big role for the mentor in demonstrating confidence in the mentee’s abilities and potential. I think that they have a part to play in reducing the interference element of Performance Equation.
Wondering about employing a mentor and how to get the best out of them? Colin Thompson, Managing Partner at Cavendish and long time mentor, explains how to do just that.
Read More > https://www.imagereportsmag.co.uk/features/business/top-tips/8945-making-the-most-of-a-mentor
`Mentoring that Works`
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YGRNXTS
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About the Author Colin Thompson
Colin is a former successful Managing Director of Transactional/Document Manufacturing Plants, Document Management/Workflow Solutions companies and other organisations, former Group Chairman of the Academy for Chief Executives, Non-Executive Director, Mentor - RFU Leadership Academy, Mentor - Coventry University, Mentor - The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Business Advisor NHS Deanery, author/writer Business Advice Section for IPEX, Graphic Display World, News USA, Graphic Start, plus many others globally, helping companies raise their `bottom-line` and `increase cash flow`. Plus, helping individuals to be successful in business and life in general. Author of several publications, research reports, guides, presentations, business and educational models on CD-ROM/Software/PDF and over 4000 articles/reports and 35 books published on business and educational subjects worldwide. Plus, International Speaker/Visiting University Professor.
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