Section III: Charting Your Mentoring
Plan
Your next mission, should you decide
to accept it, is to look at your history with mentoring. As in any wise
planning process, a review of history by scanning the environment for relevant
influences is important to understanding where your needs really are. Use the
following activities to consider, admire, and improve upon your own mentoring
methods.
Mentors are classified by Darling
& Schatz (1991) into three categories.
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ATTRACTION:
Feeling Drawn to Your Mentor
"I felt drawn
toward…" I was inspired by…" "I enjoyed being
with…"
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ACTION:
A Mentor Takes Action for Your Benefit
"She looked after my best
interests…" "He opened doors for me…" "She always
gave me good advice…"
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AFFECT:
The Mentor Has Positive Feelings About You
"She gave me
confidence…" "He listened to me…" "She helped me
learn to trust myself…"
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Linked Table:
Professional Mentoring Behaviors
Activity 3.1a: The Influences in Your
Life
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Identify a
significant mentor who has contributed to your growth and rate the importance
of each characteristic from 1 (low) to 5 (high) on the "Professional
Mentoring Behaviors" Table. This form can also be helpful in facilitating
self-guidance and personal growth.
Write a message to yourself (in your
journal) to explain what you learned about mentoring in this activity.
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Activity 3.1b: Reflection
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Complete the
following sentence in your journal: “In looking for a mentoring
relationship, the style of mentor I value includes the following roles:
…”
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Activity 3.2: Mentoring Experiences
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In your
journal, reflect on your mentoring experiences to date, answering the following
questions:
I experienced growth through my
relationship(s) with: Explain.
I experienced expansion through my
relationship(s) with: Explain.
Through my relationship with ______,
I came to the significant realization that….
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Activity 3.3: Self-Mentoring Techniques I
Use
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Methods
for Self-Mentoring
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Self-mentoring is the way you guide
yourself through problems and decisions. These self-developed techniques are
internal and self-sustaining approaches to life. These techniques revolve
around a personal belief system that significantly impacts the way you view
your world and the help and resources that are available to you. As you do this
activity, you may find that some of your methods may be outdated or
ineffective. You might also find that you would like to incorporate new
techniques into your approach to achieve more effective problem solving and
decision-making.
Use
these thoughts to reflect on your self-mentoring traits. Record your
observations and reflections in your journal.
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“I was always told to...” Parents,
teachers, or other adults are often our first mentors. They teach us their
values, basic survival skills, and more. We eventually internalize some or all
of their views and use them throughout our lives:
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“I suddenly noticed...” We are
constantly exploring our surroundings and examining other people’s coping
mechanisms and varied ideas. We often tailor these to our own purposes and
integrate new ideas into our self-mentoring techniques:
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“I learned on my own that...” Our
personalities or childhood experiences may have led us to formulate our own
opinions and independent ways. We may learn best with a minimum of outside
assistance:
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“It finally occurred to me that...”
Sometimes people who are unable to accept advice or help from others experience
an event that changes their inward focus and allows them to be more receptive
to assistance. This commonly occurs as an element of maturation:
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“I always felt that...” Some people
have such strong, constant views that they seem to have a source different from
those described above. Some seem to possess innate abilities or an inner
compass which guides them:
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Other self-mentoring methods:
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Activity 3.4: Readiness to Accept
Mentoring
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A
mentor-mentee relationship is only effective if there is trust, openness to new
logic, and an interest to grow personally and professionally.
To qualify as mentee and further
pursue growth, you must have:
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- the desire to learn and grow in
your personal and professional life
- the ambition to move forward
- the ability to take risks
- commitment and loyalty to yourself
- a positive perception of the self
- a combination of intelligence and
common sense
- a strong commitment to goals and
personal responsibility
- a willingness to listen and follow
through with directions.
The linked checklist is a
self-evaluation tool for determining your readiness for mentoring.
Activity 3.5: Mentoring Needs
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Have any of the
activities in Section III suggested any needs you may have for mentoring? Enter
those needs on the first pages of your journal.
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Activity 3.6: Self-Empowerment
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Have you been faithfully asking yourself the morning and evening
empowerment questions? Remember, they will help you notice how you are in the
world, but they will also help you see your life in a positive light and reduce
your stress level!
Have you been using your support
group of three to keep you accountable to this process? What do you need from
them to complete the next section of this course?
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