Since January is National Mentoring Month, now is the perfect time to explore the positive impact that mentoring can have on your career. Whether you are the mentor or the mentee, the mentoring relationship can push your career to new heights.
Design the Alliance. Both parties must have an agreement on the contact and response times, meetings, confidentiality, focus, feedback, and goals and accountability.
Get to Know Each Other. It is important to have a strong relationship and trust before focusing on the problem.
Set the Agenda. Be clear on the purpose and goals of the program.
Reflect and Evaluate. Know if there is a progress or development gained from the mentoring every few meetings.
Closeout. Before parting ways, have a closure with each other. Reflect and appreciate what both parties have learned and gained from the experience.
I'm quite sure I never heard the word "mentor" while growing up in the fifties in small-town Georgia, but luckily, Mrs. Reid, my eighth-grade English teacher, was the mentor who changed the direction of my life. I've likewise taken my responsibility to mentor other women - and a few men - quite seriously.
If you decide on becoming a mentor, you might want to consider choosing a mentee who shares your interests. It will make everyone's life easier. Moreover, you will also be able to provide more ...
Mentoring requires having a clear idea of how the sessions themselves are to happen.
Make sure that from the very beginning you communicate to your mentee exactly how all is going to take place: how often, where, how, etc. Get to know the other and use all the means you dispose of in order to help him or her reach the desired goal.
More than giving directions, a mentor is supposed to provide the so-called pieces of supportive advice, which will enable the mentee to make up her or his mind, based on their own beliefs.
Serving as a mentor brings many challenges and rewards, with the best mentors working to shape their mentees into other leaders, rather than just good followers. If done well, the long-term impact of mentoring can offer life- and career-changing benefits to both parties. The terms mentoring and coaching often get used interchangeably, which misleads the audience.
The word "mentor" was first used in Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey" when Odysseus entrusted the care of his kingdom to Mentor who served as a teacher and overseer to Odysseus' son.
This is where mentor was derived meaning "a trusted councelor or guide."