4
A Process With Productive Purpose ..................................................................
The mentoring process requires a commitment of time and a
plan. It’s a process of development ... not a practice of shooting
from the hip. No leader arrives at work Monday morning and
announces, “I’m going to mentor you; let’s go.” Instead, each
mentor builds a specific approach. The successful plan builds on
three components.
- Mutual trust and commitment
- Patient leadership
- Emotional maturity
Mutual Trust and Commitment
Mutual trust and commitment come from spending time
together. The more time you spend teaching someone, the more
commitment you have to that person and that person has to you.
Trust is one of the universals that supersedes all the aspects of
coaching. The mentor is a confidante and the employee entrusts
her with her dreams and fears.
Mentoring can involve huge blocks of time. Commitment
implies that the mentor is accessible when the employee needs to
talk, complain or voice concerns. Mentoring often occurs at the
end of a day or into the evening — on your time. You can see the
slight difference in this approach versus coaching. Some managers
wrongly believe that their intentions to mentor are 90 percent of
the battle, and that the other 10 percent involves the actual work.
Two dangers exist in harboring this illusion.
- When the truth hits home that the formula is actually
reversed — 10 percent intention and 90 percent hands-on,
day-to-day effort, some managers become so discouraged
that they never really get started. Which leads to the
second danger ...
The Mentoring Role: Instruction by Example