Importance Of Informal Mentoring

Stanley and Clinton believe that anyone can be a mentor. The authors stress the basic requirement for being a leader is, “he has learned something from God and is willing to share with other what he has learned” (Stanley and Clinton, 1992, p. 29). The basis of Stanley and Clinton’s argument is that the desire to pass on lessons learned to others is the primary stipulation for being a mentor. Everyone has learned lessons from life experiences, but mentoring is the desire to impart the wisdom gained from those experiences to others. In fact, Stanley and Clinton (1992) define mentoring as, “A relational experience in which one person empowers another by sharing God-given resources” (p. 33). In other words, mentoring is entrusting wisdom gained from life experiences to another person through a shared relationship. Mentoring is more than passing on information, it is being personally invested in the success of the other person.

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)

Establishing an effective mentoring relationship reminds me of the ancient African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child," meaning that the work of raising a child cannot be done alone; an entire community must participate in providing extensive social support that child rearing necessitates. It is very rare for children in any society to grow into functioning adults without some kind of interacting from the community at large.

Mentoring is a process where a more experience person creates a supportive relationship with an inexperienced, mostly younger person with the aim of providing information and advice. The process of mentoring must benefit both parties.

Over the course of the past few weeks, this course has enabled me to put to practice some of the basics of mentoring in a practical setting. In this case paper, I will document the final coaching session between my co-worker and myself. As always, before getting started I worked on a pre-coaching plan in order to lay the foundation for our meeting and help myself prepare for when I meet with my mentee. Next, I will discuss the facts of the coaching session and how well we were able to accomplish the goals of the meeting. Then the different successes and challenges will be mentioned as well as the lessons I learned from each. Finally, I will reflect on the areas of myself or my coaching style that need improvement and how I plan to implement those changes. First let’s take a look at what went in to developing the pre-coaching plan for this meeting.

Mentors serve as a confidant, counselor, guide and advisor to a participant. They share an understanding of the organization, its mission, and the formal and informal operating processes, and share experiences which contributed to their own success, setting an example for the participant to follow. They assist the participant in career development ideas or for pursuing career opportunities. Mentors encourage participants to become more efficient and productive in their career field through self-development and other activities, and suggest appropriate training and developmental opportunities to further the progress of the participant toward leadership positions. The Mentor will provide input to the participant 's supervisor in developing their Individual Development Plan (IDP), helping the participant to set clear, realistic career goals and periodically reviews progress, making constructive suggestions on career development. Vitally important, the Mentor must ensure the mentoring relationship remains visibly and consistently professional. Mentors must ensure that their meetings are for clear purposes related to mentoring, that there is visible progress by the participant toward legitimate mentoring goals, and that office relationships between the mentor and participant

These mentoring relationships consisted of providing support and encouragement along with a nurturing environment for the new leaders (Enomoto et al., 2000). Although the protégées learned a great deal with skill development and leadership opportunities in advancing their careers, the mentoring experiences benefitted both parties involved. The mentoring relationships were reciprocal and mutual (Enomoto et al., 2000). Not only is the individual perspective of the protégée valuable but also her community perspective. For example, one of the protégées who is a Hispanic assistant principal, who spoke the language of her Hispanic families, felt she could provide a better insight for her principal regarding her connections to that community (Enomoto et al., 2000). Within the mentoring program, mentors appreciated the perspectives of their protégées. Outside of the sharing of information and offering various perspectives, new leaders were looked at as confidantes and a friend.

• Build openness and respect. Both the mentor and the person being mentored need to be open and honest, yet respect the other. A mentor who withholds important information or comments does not contribute to the other person's success. However, such feedback should be delivered with tact and courtesy--and (even if somewhat hurtful) received with an open mind.

Mentoring Overview "Leadership mentoring is the formal and informal social construction of professional performance expectations developed through the purposeful interactions between aspiring and practicing principals in the context of authentic practice. This interactive mentoring develops collegial relationships, fosters reciprocal learning between expert and novice, expands leadership capacity and creates a community of practice in which steadily improving role performance is the ultimate goal"(Browne-Ferrigno and Muth, 2006, p. 276). Mentoring focuses more on the informal role in which the mentor provides feedback to the student based on future career planning, interpersonal growth for future success. One-on-one mentoring has been documented as playing a significant in advancing leadership development capabilities in mentees. "[Managers] often motivate their students, unlock previously unrealized skills, and help them achieve world-class levels" (Arnove, 2010, p.47). Mentorship is a personal development teachers have with their students. Mentoring relationships are relatively easy to establish, but keeping the mentee motivated and letting them know long term it's a great transition into young adulthood.

Mentoring is a strategy that is beneficial to increased productivity in the workplace as well as a fulfilling love for one’s career. Mentoring can take place at many levels. It can occur at an education level or as we enter into prospective careers. Those who miss out on the opportunity to be mentored, have a lower chance to perform at high levels or receive positions that are more successful. Mentors and protégé’s work on challenging tasks and activities together, in an effort to enhance the skills of the protégé. The earlier a protégé is taken under the wing of a mentor proves extremely beneficial.

Apart from being self-motivated, friendly, and knowledgeable as individual traits that every mentor should have, there are three components that make up effective mentoring: giving constructive feedback, being a role model, and creating a supportive environment (Emanuel, Pryce-Miller, 2013; Vinales, 2015).

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” could not be more true when it came to me growing up. Throughout my life I have had several mentors who helped shape my business ethic and improve my character. A mentor is critical to a person’s professional and personal growth by providing them with advice, knowledge, and leadership. The best way to acquire knowledge is for a person to read; but it’s always good to have someone that can suggest the right books.

A mentoring teacher is a professional who respects their mentee/student. They understand that showing respect is all about the small things. The teachers respect the ideas and space of their students. A mentoring teacher truly listens to their students and even makes a connection by recognizing nonverbal and verbal clues received by their students that could assist with coming to the student needs. The mentor challenges their students to think critically, press them to grow in some many new ways, and pushes them outside of their comfort zone. A mentor celebrates their students’ success – it could be a simple thank you or good job. The mentor understands that honesty is the foundation of any student/teacher relationship. They understand the

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.

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