What is mentoring?
“Mentoring is a learning relationship, involving the sharing of skills, knowledge, and expertise between a mentor and mentee through developmental conversations, experience sharing, and role modelling. The relationship may cover a wide variety of contexts and is an inclusive two-way partnership for mutual learning that values differences.” (EMCC)
What is the best practice in mentoring?
Best practices in mentoring involve the development of a relationship that improves the proficient intelligence of the mentor and the mentee. A good mentor usually brings expertness, candidness, affability, and good communication skills. Enthusiastic mentees have a tendency to express desire for knowledge, utmost discipline and self-respect.
A good mentor is a mentor who:
- Listens well and treats the conversation with the mentee as confidential.
- Determines what is important to a mentee and explore their ambitions, propensities and skills.
- Knows the importance of the learning process by creating a candid and open relationship to promote confidence and trust.
- Accepts the fact that in some cases a mentee may need to seek other sources of assistance and help.
- Appropriately trained and has vast knowledge in mentoring.
- Should have a professional approach in mentor-mentee relationship.
A good mentee is:
- Very enthusiastic to be taught and trained and is open to new ideas or concepts.
- A team-player who can interact well with other people.
- A risk taker who is not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of safety and venture into uncertainties to learn.
- Patient enough to realize that an ambition in life cannot be acquired overnight.
- A positive attitude, even in the midst of a crisis.
- Demonstrates inventiveness and resourcefulness in any task assigned.
- Accepts feedback, negative or positive, about behaviour and skills, with an intention to improve and learn from it.
When is a Mentor-Mentee Relationship Good?
What the mentor accomplishes with the mentee, and how eager the mentee responds and receives it, is what matters most in such a relationship.
A good mentor-mentee relationship cultivates and successfully carries out the following:
- Career Roles:
- A mentor that introduces new opportunities to the mentee, which the latter believes in.
- A mentor that protects and challenges a mentee, which the latter understands as part of the relationship.
- Psychological Roles:
- A mentor who is a role model, which the mentee looks up to.
- A mentor and a mentee accept and confirm each other’s ideas.
The mentor serves as a leader, a teacher that encourages thinking abilities, an advocate of realistic principles, and an analyst.