Page 384 - Learning to Learn

READING EXPERIENCE 13: CHOOSING AND USING MENTORS EFFECTIVELY
384 L EARNING TO LEARN: BECOMING A SELF-GROWER
Overview of Mentoring
by Cy Leise, Bellevue University
(Excerpted from the Faculty Guidebook)
Mentoring involves a trusting but clearly bounded relationship entered into by a mentor and a mentee for
the purpose of personal or career change and growth of the mentee. In effective mentoring relationships, the
mentee’s purpose and goals are clearly defined, and the mentee is willing to challenge himself or herself in
an area of performance that will produce future benefits. Mentors use challenging strategies that facilitate
learning, decision making, and growth in real time contexts. Key skill areas include communication,
information processing, problem solving, and servant leadership. The mentor-mentee relationship is
meaningful and valuable to both parties for attaining immediate goals and for deepening insights about
performance and growth processes.
Why Mentoring is Important
Any person who is motivated and concerned
about achieving personal or professional growth
faces the challenge of articulating a substantive
direction or change in an area which he or she
does not completely understand. In addition,
the person must plan and implement specific
action steps that have the potential to lead to the
desired growth. Effective mentoring facilitates the
movement of a mentee from unclear development
goals to independence in self-growth; a practical
goal should be the mentee’s future success.
Relationships between more experienced or ex-
pert individuals and those near the beginning of
the growth process are always unequal in terms of
status and power, so mentoring relationships must
be carefully planned to involve openness and trust
that can “sideline” these differences for a time.
The relationship must be a “hands-on” one that
is focused on the mentor staying “along-side” the
mentee. Mentors must avoid influencing the men-
tee on the basis of authority or power, and mentees
must take risks by engaging in real performance
learning that is improved by assessment from the
mentor and others. It is not the mentor’s job to re-
mediate problems of the mentee; the role is to be
an honest and open sounding board and a source
of wisdom for assessing and planning.
Principles of Effective Mentoring
The ten principles provided in Table 1 define
effective mentoring and provide a framework for
all the modules related to mentoring.
1. Mentoring requires a trusting, confidential
relationship based on mutual respect.
2. Mentoring involves a clearly bounded
relationship that is close and uncoerced
(unlike friendship or parenting).
3. Mentoring involves a definite time commit-
ment.
4. A mentoring relationship is planned for
enhancing specific growth goals of a mentee
not for organizational requirements such as
employee evaluation.
5. The purpose of mentoring must be mutually
established by the mentor and mentee with
clearly defined goals/outcomes.
6. Mentors should model performances for
mentees thereby providing them with oppor-
tunities to observe and develop insights.
7. Mentors provide quality performance as-
sessments, especially of a mentee’s self-
assessment.
8. Mentees must show progress by “raising
the bar” for themselves as their insights and
skills increase.
9. The mentoring relationship ends when the
mentee is able to operate independently.
10. Mentors follow a servant leadership model
by providing much value to another without
receiving extrinsic rewards.
Table 1 Ten Principles of Effective Mentoring