A Simple Model Of Developmental Relationships

Understanding the dynamics of mentoring relationships is not necessarily straightforward, as Figure 1 indicates. Every relationship operates within a context, which for formal mentoring involves the culture and/or climate of the organisation, the structure and purpose of the scheme, and the background of the mentor and mentee. Each mentoring pair brings to the relationship a set of expectations about the purpose of the relationship, about their role and the behaviours they should adopt, and about the likely outcomes. Many or all of these expectations will be influenced by the context. The interaction between the mentor and mentee is a self-reinforcing system - each party's behaviour influences the behaviour of the other. This in turn will influence the process - eg how frequently they meet, how deeply they explore issues. And finally, the effectiveness of the process will have a strong influence on the outcomes, which can be categorised as either supporting (often referred to in the literature as ‘psychosocial') or career-oriented.

Figure 1: The context of mentoring

Outcomes will normally need to be positive for both sides in order for the relationship to continue much beyond the short term. If either mentors or mentees feel that they are getting nothing for their efforts, the relationship will falter and die. The challenge is to provide ways of describing what we mean by mentoring that are both academically sound and simple for people to understand and apply. In this chapter we explore a basic model that fits those criteria, then some alternative perspectives on mentoring that help to distinguish it from other forms of helping others to learn and grow.