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Unit 8: Mentoring and Coaching

Behaviors which maybe tempting but that are particularly unhelpful to a mentor include: Notes
1. Passing judgment;
2. Filling in a silence too quickly;

3. Asking questions when the mentee is trying to figure something out;
4. Being or feeling patronizing or condescending;
5. Telling the mentee what to do before he or she has started to think it through for
themselves.
The main purpose of the mentoring relationship is to help mentees develop their own thinking and
planning about their career and development, with someone supportive who has organizational
experience and knowledge. Unhelpful behaviors such as those listed above sabotage this
process.
It is noticeable, when working with potential mentors, how easy it is for them to fall into the trap
of asking leading questions or of disguising statements or opinions as questions. These are habits
acquired from an earlier style of management and it is easy not to be aware of them, or their
inappropriateness, in the mentoring situation.
For senior managers, mentoring involves a change of behavior but an even more dramatic
change of thinking. Senior managers have mainly got to where they are by being effective and
decisive and by (quite appropriately) knowing what people should do and getting them to do
it. Working with someone who is junior to them but whom they do not manage can initially be
quite challenging. This stretch of style is one of the benefi ts that mentors identify as a personal
gain from being involved in the mentoring process.
8.4.2 Learning to Mentor

Many organizations provide orientation or training for mentors, to provide a base-line or a
common approach. Attending a mentoring workshop can be a welcome opportunity to engage
in some personal development, to revisit the skills of listening, establishing rapport, refl ecting on
one’s own behavior; skills that may have become rusty in the journey to a senior position. The
use fullness of mentors lies partly in their knowledge and experience; but as this becomes less
relevant with changing times, mentors’ key value is in their ability to help their mentees to gain
knowledge and experience of their own in their current role, and to develop their ability to make
effective judgments in ambiguous or uncertain or uncertain situations.

8.4.3 Setting up Mentoring Schemes

Key factors in a successful mentoring scheme are similar to those in any organizational initiative.

That is, commitment and modeling from those with most power and influence, clear and
user-friendly systems and procedures, clarity about the reasons and desired outcomes of the
schemes, and widespread and appropriate communication to all stakeholders. In the case of a
mentoring scheme, the stakeholders include not only mentors and mentees, but also the mentees’
managers.

In some organizations, only selected people are offered a mentor in a formal scheme. Mentoring

may be provided for potential high-flyers, for women, for new recruits. These choices may have
an impact on those who are not offered the same provision. Communication and explanation are
therefore important. Mentoring may also be seen, usually wrongly, as a ‘gateway’, a way through
to the fast track with a powerful protector; these notions needs to be contradicted if they are not
the case, and the real reasons for the selection widely disseminated.

An essential element of the communication is clear briefing for all involved (mentor, mentee,
mentee’s manager), which may also include an element of training for mentors. Bringing mentors

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