Ground Rules Of A Mentoring Relationship

Criminologist James Fox of Northeastern University predicts that murders committed by teens will skyrocket as the population of kids 10 and under is higher than population of 21st century teens by 20%. (Stephens) Mentoring is the act of helping out someone that isn't as knowledgeable or experienced in different areas. The goal is to make them leaders. (Patterson)

Mentoring: is the process of a more experienced person advising and guiding a less experienced (and usually younger) person, typically a colleague.

Facilitate coaching and mentoring in health and social care or children and young people’s settings.

• Encourage them to try challenging tasks and provide them with unconditional support should they make mistakes or fail at the task. Provide positive feedback for their efforts and how they proceeded rather than evaluating and emphasising the outcome.

One of the great things about mentoring is that it is something that has been around for ages. In fact, its origins can be traced back to the Greeks and is even found in the ancient legend of Odysseus. Mentoring occurs when one person elects to pass their knowledge onto another person.

Clutterbuck & Megginson (1999, p.17) describe mentoring as being like ‘standing in front of a mirror with a trusted other, who can help you see things that you do not know how to see, or that have become too familiar for you to notice’. It is a helping relationship between an individual with potential and an individual with expertise. This multi-dimensional relationship is a partnership between those in similar roles, who can support each other. A number of roles of the mentor have been listed by Bolton (2010, p.193): role model, enabler, teacher, encourager, counsellor, befriender, facilitator, coach, confidante, supporter and ‘un-learner’. To be successful roles and responsibilities of those involved need to be clear and they need to be matched to each other and understand expectations of them.

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches but to reveal to him his own. - Benjamin Disrael This quote is similar to a Chinese Proverb that says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”(Chinese Proverb). Both essentially say the same thing, and that is, you can only help someone so much until they need to realize they are capable of doing great things on their own. Higher Risk youth benefit from guidance, but once they have figured everything out they can move on alone. These two quotes apply to mentoring because, mentoring is like showing someone the way to life.

An advantage of mentoring is that it helps to acclimatise less successful workers to the job and organisational requirements. By having a "go to" person to ask questions, discuss scenarios and generally learn the nuances of the company, the mentee can become a productive member much more quickly and never feel that he has nowhere to turn for help. The mentee can gain the sense of achievement that comes from the mentor's feedback and assessment of his progress. The mentee's quest to gain the mentor's approval can serve as a motivating force to continue to improve his performance. The mentor can gain satisfaction from knowing that she is helping an individual and can take a measure of pride in her accomplishments. For a mentor that has already achieved a great deal of success, she can look at the process as a way of "giving back”.

"Mentoring is a special quality, skill set and attitude," she says. "The benefits are not only between the mentor and mentee, but the future generations."

A mentor is someone we all have whether it's your parents, friends, or even a total stranger! What makes them all the same? They all have great qualities. It could be that one of them happens to be an extraordinary listener or ]they might have great wisdom and patience. When you are looking for a great mentor, you are going to want someone with patience, determination, and listens

It takes a lot of commitment to be a mentor, an appropriate meeting time needs to be discussed between mentor and mentee so that it doesn't conflict with family, school, and/or social life. Mentors are usually provided for: troubled teens, young children with busy parents that work, children or teens with special needs such as Autism or ADHD, or anyone under or over the age of 18 who needs to have one on one time with someone they trust and can talk to confidentially.

A mentor however has to understand his role and not get caught up with his mentee too personally and possibly emotionally as this can affect his judgement in giving out advice to the mentee in vital situations.

Mentorship is very important in the workplace especially in the area of training and development. The mentor-protégé relationship is a much needed relationship that begins in the early career stage and this relationship involves the current or new employees and the supervisor or other colleagues that provide work-related guidance. The relationship itself is comprehensive and involves “educational, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual development” (Greenhaus,, Callanan, & Godshalk, 2010, p 211). One of the initial task of the early career the establishment of the career field which involves the gaining of the workplace competence, learn what is needed to excel in the organization, and to gain acceptance in the workplace to be recognized as the valued employee. There are many ways of achieving the above mentioned advantages in the workplace which one main method is through the use of the mentorship program.

Learning mentors tend to work on a one to one level or in small numbered groups, a learning mentor must be a good listener, be able to encourage and motivate and act as a role model and encourage the build up of a mutually respectful relationship (Hayward, 2001).

With the development of the more organic and less formal organisational structures the role of mentors has shifted with these changes. Unlike previously where mentors where seen as formal trainers who taught newcomers the processes and got them acquainted with the cultures and the systems within the organisation. Which required good interpersonal skills and a good knowledge of the activity or tasks the mentee would have to undertake, and be able to effectively relay or demonstrate the tasks or activities to the mentee. As opposed to more recently where a mentor would have to be more of an emotional counselor and demonstrate more skills than were traditionally required from