Mentorship- Leading other Team Members to Success!
Much has been written in the past few years about
mentorship in the work, job and personal environments. The idea that seems to get posited over and
over again is that having a mentor should increase one’s success in life—be it
at the job, in personal challenges and life in general.
A
mentor is someone who is willing to share, help, explore, teach, counsel, and
guide an individual when he/she is taking on a new task. That task could be as simple as learning how
to swing a golf club, or as complicated as adapting and adjusting in a new
organization. In most instances today, a
mentor is commonly thought of as a colleague who will help another colleague
learn new material, provide some different focus and direction in allowing an
individual to become successful in a job environment.
In
the work environment, a mentor may be a senior corporate officer who has
experienced what the new employee is just now learning. This individual, who is probably not in the
employee’s supervisory chain can explain, show and describe tasks, processes
and procedures that the new employee is unfamiliar with. These meetings can take place over a
breakfast meeting, a cup of coffee or a round of golf or racquetball at the gym.
One
role of the mentor is to help guide the mentee along the way—however, allowing
the mentee to “fall and fail” is also a valuable part of the experience. No one wants someone to fail, however, in
failure is learning and forward progress.
I have had many mentees—I rarely allow them to fail, however, viable and
strong learning transpires when someone tries something and discovers that it
does not work—even though we may have had a similar discussion on the matter
just the week before.
The
mentorship relationship must be maintained in a professional manner at all
times. Throughout the experience that
you have as a mentor, it is sometimes easy to assume what in transactional
analysis is defined as a “parent-child” relationship. A mentor relationship is not that—it is a
professional relationship between two professionals. Discussions of matters such as intimate
family matters, financial concerns and other non-job related areas are not
appropriate. Many companies have rules
and regulations regarding what is and is not acceptable in a mentorship
relationship.
Good common sense is the
best guideline—the mentee wants to know how to be successful, just like the
mentor. The other concerns, although of
possible interest, are not germane to successful mentorship.
With more millennial age
employees entering the work force, some baby boomers may feel insecure or
intimidated about the millennial’s use of digital technology. Here is a case where in one instance, you
serve as a mentor helping a new employee.
In the next minute, the millennial employee is your mentor, teaching you
new digital technology that you may not have experienced. The relationship is dual path—i.e., one time
you are the mentor, the next time, you are the mentee!
Mentoring is fun! As a mentor, you have the opportunity to aid
and assist another individual grow, learn and mature in his/her future. It could be a job, hobby or life in
general. Taking this role seriously will
ensure that you help the mentee be a better employee/individual and you will
receive more intrinsic satisfaction than you ever imagined.
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