Mentoring...
Guiding People on Their Journey

 

Effective Mentors

The historical roots of mentoring lie in the Greek myth of Ulysses, who, in preparation for his lengthy sea voyages, entrusted his young son to the care of his old friend Mentor. Thereafter, the name has been identified with "a more experienced person who forms a relationship with a less experienced person in order to provide them with advice, support and encouragement" (Collin, 1988). The activity of mentoring is normally linked to fostering career success and has been seen as a "thread that connects all successful individuals" (Pearce, 1987).

Properly defined human resource strategies include focusing attention on the development of human resources in a way that leads to competitive success. Today's progressive organizations are doing away with creating systems of control and extrinsic motivation. Instead, they are facilitating and encouraging the effective use of individuals' abilities and competencies.

Mentoring is one of the basic means by which new skills are taught or existing skills are enhanced. Mentoring is particularly useful in imparting knowledge, skills, information, and individual feedback for the appropriate integration of theory, practice, and individual work and learning styles. Working as a mentor requires the ability to shift between role modeling as teacher, advisor, and coach, for the purpose of imparting theory, technique, skills, and personal development.

Through highly interactive exercises, participants will learn about the connections between teaching, advising, and coaching. This knowledge will fulfill the requirements of being a mentor.

By the end of this program, participants will be able to

  • Characterize the specific role of mentor in the workplace,

  • Identify the skills required to advise for specific outcomes,

  • Clarify the role of teacher from a peer perspective,

  • Distinguish the importance of coach as team member and leader,

  • Facilitate a work group as mentor/leader,

  • Establish goals, solve problems, and communicate on a more personal level,

  • Differentiate between skills and abilities, and

  • Recognize the necessity to inconvenience self for the goal of imparting knowledge.

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