Mentoring is a fundamental form of human development where one person invests time, energy and personal know-how in assisting the growth and ability of another person. Mentors are those special people in our lives who, through their deeds and work, help us to move toward fulfilling that potential.
Helping Agents
Mentors are helpers. A persistent encourager who helps us build our self-confidence, a stern taskmaster who teaches us to appreciate excellence in performance.
New Visions
An older, more experienced person helps and guides a younger person in learning the ropes in an organization or on the job. Mentoring also used to describe the activities of a senior person in preparing a junior for a particular office or job, providing career guidance and encouraging high standards of performance.
Mentoring Relationships
"Friendship mentoring" consists of being available as needed to discuss problems, to listen, or to share special knowledge.
Variety In Behaviors
A mentor is one who offers knowledge, insight, perspective or wisdom that is especially useful to the other person.
A process whereby mentor and mentee work together to discover and develop the mentee's latent abilities, to provide the mentee with knowledge and skills as opportunities and needs arise, for the mentor to serve as an effective tutor, counselor, friend and foil who enables the mentee to sharpen skills and hone her or his thinking.
Seven Types Of Mentor Assistance
Seven types of mentor assistance that are particularly helpful in encouraging mentee growth. These are:
1. Helping a person shift her or his mental context
2. Listening when the mentee has a problem
3. Identifying mentee feelings and verifying them ( feedback )
4. Effectively confronting negative intentions or behaviors
5. Providing appropriate information when needed
6. Delegating authority or giving permission
7. Encouraging exploration of options
Negative Behaviors
Mentors want good things to happen to their mentees. They want them to be effective, productive, achieving, successful and happy. However, in their eagerness to help their mentees, they may revert to behaviors that prove to be less than helpful. Three such behaviors are: -
Criticizing
Giving advice
Rescuing people from their own folly
Determining Mentee Expectations
Checking Mentee Expectations
Three methods of ascertaining mentee's expectations are:
1. Ask the mentee to write a brief essay of one or two pages describing what he or she expects to gain from the relationship ? short term and long-term.
2. Ask the mentee to identify briefly his or her perception of the roles and responsibilities of each party in the relationship.
3. Ask the mentee to list any special needs or features of the relationship that should be considered in developing the relationship.
Mentor not overreact to the mentee's expectations.
Developing A Mentor-Mentee Agreement
Formal mentoring arrangements are established, usually sanctioned by the employer, school or other agency, a mentor-mentee agreement may be helpful.
Should define how they will work together and what they hope to achieve through this association.
The goal of their agreement is to set objectives for their mutual effort. A tentative agreement, subject to change asrequired. It is mutual, both parties should benefit in satisfaction and happiness.
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