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Getting the most from Mentoring
Mentoring does not work for everyone. It is a big commitment that often does not fully bear the fruit of its investment in terms of time and emotional energy required to make it a success often till some time later.
Those that enter into mentoring as protégés must possess the following characteristics:
· An open and non-defensive approach to accepting feedback
· A willingness to learn from others and a disciplined approach to the application of learning
· An appetite for the new and different
· A willingness to be reflective and invest time in exploring what is working and not working about their current approaches
· A positive and enquiring outlook
· A healthy respect for others approaches
· A willingness to make themselves transparent to the point of vulnerability
It is important that adequate assessment is completed prior to starting any mentoring process and mentoring candidates must meet the above criteria. In our experience psychometric tests can aid tremendously in advancing the best candidates forward, as well as a comprehensive interview process that seeks to have potential protégés describe why they think they are suitable for the programme as well as presentations on what they believe their potential within the organisation to be.
Those that enter into the process as Mentors must possess the following characteristics:
· Be experienced and well respected managers – considered to be role models
· Skilled at providing high quality motivational and developmental feedback
· Highly developed self awareness
· A willingness to share their personal experience with others
· A willingness to be accessible and invest of their time for the betterment of others without personal agenda or gain
· Good listeners
· Empathetic
· A deep felt connection to the organisation and what it stands for
Again it is important that adequate time is invested in assessing whether someone is right for the role of mentor. Like any role the application for it should be taken very seriously and Mentor should also be required to provide their credentials and present themselves for assessment to the programme.
The importance of "fit"
Fit is one of the most important things in the mentoring relationship. It is important that a mentor is not thrust on a protégée or vise versa but rather that they choose each other. They do not need to have a natural affinity or “like each other” but they must feel they are able to respect one another and that the relationship will be mutually beneficial.
The protégée must feel that there is an opportunity to learn from the mentor and the mentor must see the potential in the protégée to want to give to them their wisdom and learnings. Therefore the matching process becomes very important. In our experience it is best to do some of the matching behind the scenes however there should also be an opportunity to meet face to face and to interact on neutral territory to help make the final matching decisions.
If you're serious about making mentoring work in your organisation, talk to us about how to create effective Mentoring Programmes that work in your environment.
Those that enter into mentoring as protégés must possess the following characteristics:
· An open and non-defensive approach to accepting feedback
· A willingness to learn from others and a disciplined approach to the application of learning
· An appetite for the new and different
· A willingness to be reflective and invest time in exploring what is working and not working about their current approaches
· A positive and enquiring outlook
· A healthy respect for others approaches
· A willingness to make themselves transparent to the point of vulnerability
It is important that adequate assessment is completed prior to starting any mentoring process and mentoring candidates must meet the above criteria. In our experience psychometric tests can aid tremendously in advancing the best candidates forward, as well as a comprehensive interview process that seeks to have potential protégés describe why they think they are suitable for the programme as well as presentations on what they believe their potential within the organisation to be.
Those that enter into the process as Mentors must possess the following characteristics:
· Be experienced and well respected managers – considered to be role models
· Skilled at providing high quality motivational and developmental feedback
· Highly developed self awareness
· A willingness to share their personal experience with others
· A willingness to be accessible and invest of their time for the betterment of others without personal agenda or gain
· Good listeners
· Empathetic
· A deep felt connection to the organisation and what it stands for
Again it is important that adequate time is invested in assessing whether someone is right for the role of mentor. Like any role the application for it should be taken very seriously and Mentor should also be required to provide their credentials and present themselves for assessment to the programme.
The importance of "fit"
Fit is one of the most important things in the mentoring relationship. It is important that a mentor is not thrust on a protégée or vise versa but rather that they choose each other. They do not need to have a natural affinity or “like each other” but they must feel they are able to respect one another and that the relationship will be mutually beneficial.
The protégée must feel that there is an opportunity to learn from the mentor and the mentor must see the potential in the protégée to want to give to them their wisdom and learnings. Therefore the matching process becomes very important. In our experience it is best to do some of the matching behind the scenes however there should also be an opportunity to meet face to face and to interact on neutral territory to help make the final matching decisions.
If you're serious about making mentoring work in your organisation, talk to us about how to create effective Mentoring Programmes that work in your environment.
