Kategori: Mentoring

Articles about mentoring.

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The 4 Steps to Finding Your Voice

“One word expresses the pathway to greatness: voice.
Those on this path find their voice and inspire others to find theirs. The rest never do.”
Stephen R. Covey

 

I read an article on Stephen R. Covey`s blog and wanted to share some of the wisdom from him about mentoring. Read this short story and learn from one of the best.

I think if you care about people genuinely, you listen to them and observe them; because this is more than just hearing them speak, it is observing them-observing where their excitement is, where their enthusiasm is; observing where you sense they have potential. Sometimes it is very powerful just to say to them in sincerity, “I believe you have great potential in this area. I see real strengths in you that you may not see in yourself, and I would like to create an opportunity for you to use those strengths and to develop this potential. Would you be interested in that?” Most people are so flattered by someone who sincerely cares for them and affirms their work and potential that they are moved and inspired by that kind of input. It’s very powerful and it can make all of the difference, particularly with people who grow up with a confused lifestyle, bad modeling, and basic education. Often they have no clue as to what life is about or what they are about until someone becomes a teacher to them-a mentor, a confirmer, and a coach. This kind of mentoring is becoming increasingly important in education, in relationships, and in work environments. It can make all of the difference as to whether a person takes a higher road to his or her own voice or a lower road to where he or she is swallowed up by the priorities and voices of others.

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With unemployment at current levels, why would any manager focus on mentoring? Why spend money on current employees when they should be happy to have their job?

Guest Blog: Kim Wise, the founder of Mentor Resources

As an observer of the business environment, I find myself startled at the short-sightedness of managers who make comments like these.  These questions are short-sighted and reflect the commentator’s own fears.  Any company that expects to stay in business for the long haul needs to be constantly monitoring and upgrading its skills.

It is well documented that an outstanding manager (or employee) will contribute significantly more than an average employee in the same position to the firm’s bottom line.  Thus, it should be obvious that leveraging your best employees impacts the bottom line in a meaningful way. Today especially, every manager needs every one of his or her employees to be a better than average employee.  Rather than taking employees for granted (“since there are no jobs out there”), managers should be focused on increasing engagement, efficiency and proficiency at the job.

The impact can be meaningful: In a Harvard Business Review article on Employee Engagement, BestBuy shared that a 0.1% increase in average employee satisfaction within a store increases revenues, at that store, by $100,000 per year.

Mentoring is the fastest way to share the perspective, insights and knowledge of the outstanding employees.  Tacit knowledge is the counterpart to classroom learning.  It’s the subtle lessons of experience and observation over time.

When an employee who has been successful in the organization agrees to mentor a less experienced employee and they click – creating a good mentoring experience – the perspective of the successful employee is leveraged and magnified.

There are software tools that can help the mentor matching, to cost effectively maximize the mentoring program.  The market leader is Mentor Resources, which provides software for the administration of formal mentoring programs. WisdomShare™ is a proprietary algorithm which matches Mentors and Mentees to create a good match, where the pair share personality traits. This software is often supplemented by Mentor Training by a consultant like Thor-Erik Gulliksen.

Kim Wise is the founder of Mentor Resources, a premier provider of tools for formal mentoring programs, using WisdomShare™ an artificial-intelligence matching system. The software has been selected by a number of European-based multinational corporations because it generates the best possible match for the Mentor/Mentee pair, with clear guidance and measurable goals which are strategically aligned with the organization’s long-term goals.

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Training institute in Spain

Today I am leaving for Spain, Alicante, for looking at a new training facility their. I am really looking forward to it and to have a possibilities to train in Spain. Who will be the first company to sign up for a training here?

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Using one or more mentors

One mentor can help you, but maybee you should try more mentors who can broaden your perspective and grant access to new opportunities. Building your mentoring network by personal relationship and recommendations.
Identify the people you need help from to be successful in your current job and everyone who might help you advance your career. Use your current mentors to provide introductions and to fill you in on people’s backgrounds, interests, and current projects. With that information, you can make meaningful connections by offering relevant expertise or ideas, or finding other ways to assist you in your path.
This will maybe be one of your best investments of time.

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How to screw up a mentorship!

In my experience people are afraid to screw up the mentorship even when I always tell them that it is actually difficult to do so. If you think mentoring is mysterious and difficult, it will be. There are no rules, except to always stay in full-attention listening mode. Sometime you teach, sometimes you mentor and sometimes just talk or spend time together.

About the only time to screw the mentorship up is

  1. Don´t meet often
  2. When you meet, don´t listen
  3. Don´t keep your promises

That will do it!

Any additional thing you may do, even the clumsiest effort that keeps your mentee´s best interests squarely in focus will spell sucess. If you are in a mentoring program there will always be a coordinator who will help you if you feel that you need it.

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The next tip is about relationship

The last tip for now is:

Mentoring is a unique relationship.
It is like other relationships, yet unlike other relationships.
It is personal and professional.
It is at once intimate, caring even loving yet dispassionate, calm and neutral.
It creates a safe space for both the mentor and the one mentored to open themselves to discovery.

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Did you know it brings status to be a mentor?

For my third tip it is come to the mentor and status, read more here…

Mentoring brings with it a certain status and respect.
Mentors are recognized as wise men and women, with knowledge and experience worth sharing.
Whether they know it or not, choose to use it or not, mentors are mavens who have influence,
link into networks and can leverage knowledge.
This, however, is not the secret that enriches the lives of those who mentor or are mentored.

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Maybe you didn´t know this either…

For the next tip from things you maybe know about mentoring is number two here:

Certainly, mentoring calls upon interpersonal skills and communication styles that are highly valued in today’s leaders.
Mentoring a professional colleague can be stimulating and energising. It challenges you to reflect and discuss new perspectives and ideas.
So mentoring offers an opportunity for mentors to develop attributes that will benefit them professionally.
However, I believe that mentors can gain as much, if not more than those that are mentored,
from the relationship and the reward is much greater than personal satisfaction or a career advantage.

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What you may not know about mentoring

If you are reading about mentoring for the first time it´s some information which is good to have. I will bring you some of them for the next week. And by the way, good luck with the mentoring work.

Mentors generally volunteer for their role for all the right reasons.
Many high achieving professionals like to «give something back».
Contributing to the development of others through mentoring is an honored tradition.
Yet, there is a well-kept secret about mentoring that may come as a shock to some
or be no surprise at all for others when they discover it.

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When running a mentoring program, it is important to…

When having a running program it is important to have contact with all the participants. And especially in the start of a program. A short phone call or maybe an email to both the mentee and the mentor, just to get information about the first mentee/mentor meeting and the match. It is important for the participants because they feel taken care of and we can lure out if it´s something wrong.

Not wrong maybe but if it´s a good or bad match or maybe if the mentee isn´t prepared or maybe the mentor is talking to much. Maybe the mentors isn´t that clear as a mentor and the meeting is almost as an information meeting.

I have no been sitting for two days and having those calls. And I am loving it!!!

They have all sort of feedback, but they all are saying something like: I love my mentor, the mentor is great, It is great meetings and very useful discussions. And the mentor is telling me about their great mentee and how they are running the meetings and using case.

In these two days I have only experienced one mentee who was not that satisfied with the mentor. But through the conversation we concluded two important things for the mentee for the next meeting. Number one: Be prepared and number two: have some concrete to talk about before the meeting. It could be the leader role, budgeting, new as a leader or other things. And when we said goodbye the mentee the mentee thanked me for the feedback and the little mentoring I have done.

As a coordinator for mentoring programs this is important, you can´t have your mentees and mentors living their own lives between the start and the ending of a program.