Chapter 5: What Makes an Effective Mentor, an Effective Mentee?


Overview

It may seem an obvious point that mentors and mentees should be selected (or encouraged to come forward) within the context of the programme objectives. The qualities that are relevant for mentors and mentees in a programme aimed to help at-risk teenagers are not the same as those for people engaged in a mentoring programme aimed at people undertaking their first general manager job overseas. Yes, there will be generic similarities - for example, the mentees' need to understand and come to terms with their respective environments, and the mentors' need to be able to empathise with the situations the mentee describes - but the circumstances and the purpose of the relationship defines the need in terms of expected behaviours and competencies.

Mentoring is a disciplined process, although it has few rules. The organisation should decide and explain carefully who it wants to mentor and why, the criteria for selection, and who will do the selecting. The criteria will vary from company to company but should always be drawn against the background of this question: ‘How much will this person gain from a mentoring relationship?'

In this chapter we explore some of the generics and set out some principles for managing selection and matching processes.




Everyone Needs a Mentor(c) Fostering Talent in Your Organisation
Everyone Needs a Mentor
ISBN: 1843980541
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 124

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