Basics of Mentoring - Part 1 of 2

Submitted by Michael on Sun, 06/18/2006 - 17:55.
in

Every week, we get questions about people's resumes on the discussion boards. Our resume casts are some of the most wanted of all our work. It's pretty obvious that more and more folks are tuned into their own careers, and how to manage them. That's a good thing, as we've said before, because no one else is managing it for you. And, because so few people manage their careers at all, it only takes a little to get a competitive advantage.

We thought we'd address a career management topic that also leverages our recent cast about building your network. We want to discuss the basics of Mentoring.

There's a lot of different aspects of mentoring. In fact, we have a future show scheduled on how to use mentoring as part of an organizational talent management and development and succession planning program. Believe us, we're not big fans of corporate plans..but there is a way to do it that is easy and very powerful. Stay tuned for that cast.

This week (and next), though, it's just the basics. After we talk some big picture stuff, we'll give you some basic guidelines. In our traditional manner, we'll cover 7 simple guidelines:

  1. Whom Should I Ask?
  2. How Long Should It Last?
  3. You Make the Ask
  4. How Does It Work?
  5. You Run It
  6. The First Meeting is Critical - Script It
  7. Be Ready For Feedback


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Bruce's picture
Submitted by Bruce (not verified) on Wed, 06/21/2006 - 08:09.

The mentoring program is great, so far.

The mentoring program is great, so far.

I have a question: Is there an age or corporate level after which mentoring becomes pointless? I am an advocate of continuous learning, but somehow mentoring carries with it a young guy (mentee) /old guy (mentor) stigma. Is this really true?

Your manager tools podcast is stimulating and interesting.
Thanks

Mark's picture
Submitted by Mark on Wed, 06/21/2006 - 15:25.

Bruce- Other than the "guy" part,

Bruce-

Other than the "guy" part, yes.

But seriously: I would argue that anyone can mentor anyone else under the right circumstances. The classic reverse age case is the senior exec being mentored by the young geek on the basics of tech stuff.

I wouldn't be surprised to see an EVP get mentored by a board member at all... so in many cases, the "age-ism" issue is moot.

In general, would I expect to see younger being mentored by senior? Yes, absolutely that's the common experience, and rightly so, I think. Mentoring IS less likely to occur at senior levels... though for the right pairing, it wouldn't necessarily be pointless. Rare, but not without merit.

Hope this helps.

Glad you like the show!

Mark

Mark I.'s picture
Submitted by Mark I. (not verified) on Thu, 06/22/2006 - 12:30.

First, I would like to say, I really

First, I would like to say, I really enjoy your podcasts and find them useful.

With regards to your cast on mentoring, I have a question regarding mentor selection.

Should you avoid selecting a mentor from another company in a case where you or your company does direct business with that person’s company?

Should you look for another mentor because of this prior business relationship? Do you feel there are any boundaries or factors like this that should be considered when selecting a mentor?

Thanks,

Mark I.

DISCIPL:'s picture
Submitted by DISCIPL: (not verified) on Wed, 07/04/2007 - 07:51.

[...] Mentoring Wednesday July

[...] Mentoring Wednesday July 04th 2007, 9:31 pm Filed under: Discipleship, Jesus Recently I have been runningstill others give them distinct definitions. As you might have guessed I fall into the latter camp. Mentoring is a great tool and a great thing to do but it doesn’t go as far as discipleship.accurately defined as Jesus-following. The question is then what did Jesus do and how do we follow? Mentoring could well be part of that for you, and it is for me. But it goes far wider than that. Jesus hadone-on-one time with his disciples (mentoring) but he also lived life with them and shared everything. He taught them, challenged them, served them, commissioned them and at the end of his time released them. Having said all that: here’s a link for two excellent talks on mentoring. I’ve linked to these guys before as their material is first class. It is a talk for a work setting but with a few syntax changes it could be directly applied in the church as well. [...]

lincolnrozelle's picture
Submitted by lincolnrozelle on Thu, 07/05/2007 - 08:23.

How did my blog appear here? Thanks for

How did my blog appear here? Thanks for your comment on it though. It took me a while to get over the shock of getting a comment from Mark.

Keep up the great work! My leadership team will be listening to a few of these so we can run a better organisation this year.

Lincoln

p.s. Ever thought of offering a couple subsidised places at your conferences for people that work for non-profits/charities? Maybe just at the London one?
L

mahorstman's picture
Submitted by mahorstman on Thu, 07/05/2007 - 09:49.

Lincoln- Apparently you used the

Lincoln-

Apparently you used the trackback technique. Happy to have been sent over.

We have thought of offering a non-profit rate - we did so when we started. It is why our price is so much lower than everyone else's. We believe our normal rate is accessible to everyone, relative to the market and DEFINITELY relative to value provided.

Mark