a Web-based course sponsored by Kappa Omicron Nu (KON) Honor Society and dedicated to the mission of empowering leaders Acknowledgement: this course was adapted from Mentoring: The Human Touch (Mitstifer, Wenberg, Schatz, 1991) by Susan S. Stratton, Lisa H. Wootton, and Dorothy I. Mitstifer. Copyright© 2000, Kappa Omicron Nu. PRINT a complete version of this course, including all linked activities.

Overview

This course is offered as a contribution to leadership development. Mentoring is a popular topic in education and business but Self-Managed Mentoring puts a different twist on the subject. Self-development, after all, is a personal choice, and this course enables persons to take charge of their lives. In return for this “freebie” we ask only that you write your “story”—a sort of testimonial—about how you used the content of this course and what the outcomes were. You may send your story to kon.org.

You, of course, know that copyright law holds that use of this material for purposes other than your personal self-development requires advance approval. Approval can be acquired through kon.org.

There are at least four choices for utilizing the course:

1. Knowledge - Read the text to learn about mentoring, especially self-managed mentoring. The "e-lectures" are identified by the following symbol:

2. Experiential Knowledge - Read the text and select several exercises that increase your competence in selected areas.

3. Self-Managed Life Change - Read the text and complete the whole series of exercises in order to make a major difference in your life.

4. Life Change facilitated by Telementoring or E-mail Mentoring - Enhance the process with a mentor selected by you, or contact Kappa Omicron Nu to supply a mentor (there may be a cost associated with this choice). Requests can be made through kon.org.

There are five sections and twenty-seven activities in this course, and the authors recommend a minimum of fifteen hours (for options 3 and 4 above) to get the best value for your investment of time.

Opportunities for college credit, CEUs, or PDUs – This course could be administered for college credit like a “special problem” or as a component of a course, but persons desiring such credit must take the initiative. Kappa Omicron Nu will support such efforts if requested.

*Tip for navigating in the web-based course: In addition to the links at the bottom of each activity, the browser "Back" button will take you to the immediately preceding location.

Section I: Introduction/Orientation

A person cannot lead others without first learning how to lead oneself. A mentor cannot mentor others without first having been mentored successfully. It is in “knowing thyself” and recognizing your own strengths AND weaknesses that authentic leadership begins. It is in the experience of “seek and you shall find; ask and you shall receive” that we learn the wisdom of life and powerful strategies to help others.

Completing this course well will require four commitments from you:

1. Self-discipline to complete all the activities provided. Each activity will help you explore a part of yourself that you may not have thought about before.

2. Keeping a journal. All activities should be kept in that journal, as well as other reflections. It is recommended that you continue writing the journal beyond the completion of the course. Journaling can help you reflect on who you are in the world and how life impacts you. At the beginning of your journal, label 3-5 pages with “Mentoring Needs.” It is on these pages that you will accumulate a list of mentoring needs, which will present themselves as you progress through the activities of this course. You will find this symbol at each activity that requires you to write in your journal:

3. Design for yourself a support group of three other people that you can call on as you progress through this course of study. The members of this group can serve you in the following ways:

• As your point of accountability. You need to tell someone that you are doing a specific exercise and that you want him or her to check up on you to be certain you have completed it by a date certain. Select someone who can motivate you.
• As your confidant. There will be things that come to you through your reflections that you may want to talk about. Such conversations may be very personal. Select someone you can trust in those moments.
• As your cheerleader. There may be times you will want to not follow through with this course. Select someone who will remind you of your vision as you begin this course.

Identify your support group in your journal. As you progress through this course, lean on these people to help you in your personal and professional growth.

4. On a daily basis, ask yourself the following questions in the morning and in the evening. Asking these questions will set you on a healthy path of proactive noticing of you in the world. The questions can simply be a mental exercise that takes about 3-5 minutes in the morning and evening OR you can journal your responses. The key is to develop a pattern of consistent questions that empower you on a daily basis.

Morning Empowerment Questions

1. What am I excited about in my life now?

What about that makes me excited? How does that make me feel?

2. What am I grateful about in my life now?

What about that makes me grateful? How does that make me feel?

3. What am I enjoying most in my life right now?

What about that do I enjoy? How does that make me feel?

4. What am I committed to in my life right now?

What about that makes me committed? How does that make me feel?

5. Who do I love? Who loves me?

What about that makes me loving? How does that make me feel?

1. What have I given today?

2. What did I learn today?

3. How has today added to the quality of my life?

4. How did I contribute to others today?

5. How did I show my love and compassion for others today?

What is mentoring? Why is it important to you?

A mentor is generally considered a more experienced person who alternately functions as a coach, counselor, and a teacher. The mentoring relationship has many functions:

• Enhance skill and intellectual development,
• Welcome and facilitate entry and advancement in the work situation,
• Expand horizons and perspectives,
• Acquaint the mentee with values, customs, resources, and professional connections,
• Model the professional role,
• Advise, give moral support and build confidence,
• Furnish a relatively objective assessment of strengths and weaknesses,
• Define the newly emerging self and to encourage the dream.

Mentoring is carried on in informal and formal ways. It can be done through facilitation by another individual or through self-facilitation. This course focuses on creating a Self-Managed Mentoring Program.

Completing this course well will put you on the path to successful adulthood, a promising professional life, and a healthy, integrated personal approach to life.

Informal mentoring

Most people experience the informal “happenstance” mentoring throughout a lifetime. “Lucky” mentees are chosen by persons who take a “special interest” in them and promote their personal or career development. A major problem with this informal mentoring is that women and minorities are the least likely to be “adopted” by a mentor. The “old boys’ network” for promising young men, especially white, middle class men, has not yet been fully adapted for other deserving candidates. Thus the reason for the development of more formal mentoring programs and services.

Formal mentoring

Formal mentoring programs vary in scope and design. Some are sophisticated programs with staffs for training and monitoring progress; others are volunteer-led networks for supporting mentors and mentees. Professional associations and business are likely sponsors of mentoring networks. Personal coaches, like a personal trainer, are available for hire by either a corporate professional development department for promising career candidates OR by an individual who is determined to fulfill career dreams.

Self-Facilitation or Mentoring Self-Management Program

Through self-facilitation or self-management, mentees identify, understand, and use their unique developmental patterns to manage their own mentoring. In other words, by observing yourself “objectively”, and reflecting on what you observe, you can determine exactly what you need to overcome your next developmental challenge. A mentoring self-management program places the responsibility onto the mentee and expands the notion of mentoring to include peers, parents and siblings, biographies, illuminating materials and media, reflection on field experiences and serial mentoring.

There are two types of self-management: Passive and Proactive

Passive self-management occurs when you put yourself in a situation where things will happen to you, which you believe will be empowering. By placing yourself in certain situations, you are provided with experiences, which affect you more or less profoundly. When you choose to enroll in a course or to work in a particular environment, you are practicing passive self-management.

Proactive self-management occurs when you consciously choose to alter your behavior—to interrupt how you normally do things, believing this can benefit you. You may choose to speak or listen or behave in a new way. You take the initiative—it is your idea, your choice, your action. For example, choosing to exercise is proactive self-management for a person who may normally be inactive. Choosing to wear a different style of clothing may alter how people respond to you. Beginning meditation, expressing feelings you usually hide, or sharing secrets are all examples of proactive self-management.

This proactive self-management focus allows you to work through all the barriers you internally create to resist change in behavior. Using your conscious will in pursuit of a personal goal is the thing that gives you the energy to keep on the path of pursuit. As you become more proactive in your life, you will also become stronger.

As you pursue your career, you will ultimately be in a profession where you must mentor and lead others. For a mentor-in-training, self-management is essential. You need to take on training yourself to be fully conscious and as aware as possible. This self-management training needs to become a life practice, focused on looking for ways of continuous self-improvement.

This course is just the beginning. It provides you tools and resources to identify your needs and processes, ways to assess the timing of the mentoring activity as well as tools to determine the best mentoring form to overcome the unique personal and professional challenges you face.

In your journal (after the Mentoring Needs pages), title the next several pages as follows:

Years 0-5, Years 6-10, Years 11-15, Years 16-20, Years 21-25, etc. in five year increments to your current age.

On each page allocated, answer the following questions about that time frame:

Where did you live?

Who were your major players?

Were there any significant pets?

What was my favorite? Food? Game? Music? Friend? Toy(s)? Hobbies? Interests? Clothes?

What were my major events during that time?

What are my dominant memories of the time?

Staying in touch with all of you is important as you begin to reflect on where you want to go and what you need.

This historical review may take 2 pages or maybe 20. Some of it may be difficult to recall and some will flow quite easily. Reviewing the history of any relationship is the first step in determining the next developmental challenges.

After completing the narrative review of your life, record your observations in your journal, completing at least one of the following sentences:

I’ve become aware… After some reflection, I’ve decided… I’m proud of myself because I… A pattern I have noticed…

Defining Your Mentors and Exploring Mentoring Relationships

What mentoring messages did important people in your life leave with you? What effect did they have on who you are, who you can be, and what you should do? Did they instill you with strong, repetitive messages? Use the space below to explore both the positive and negative messages you’ve received.

Mentoring Messages

Personal coats of arms have never been popular in the United States, but many families have these heraldic devices that reference their ancestral heritage. The "Coat of Arms" strategy is not concerned with the inherited heraldry of family hand-me-down symbols but with the desirable qualities with which you would like to be associated. In the appropriate areas of your coat of Arms, answer six questions, not in words but in pictures. The drawings may be simple, even crude, as long as they mean something to you; as long as you know what they express. This strategy seeks the quality of values, not the quality of artwork. Why symbols? Not only are symbols or pictographs the traditional means of illustrating heraldic shields, but the use of abstract symbols may force us to think beyond words. As a famous French writer said, "Many of us use words to conceal thought more than to express it." Here we will avoid being too verbal and hiding behind words. Let's see what we can picture.

DIRECTIONS:

Draw pictures to depict your answers to six (6) of the following questions.

QUESTIONS:

These questions will help you identify the personal qualities that you wish to represent you.

1. What do you regard as your greatest personal achievement?

2. What do you regard as your family's greatest achievement?

3. What is the one thing that other people can do to make you most happy?

4. What would you do if you had one year to live and were guaranteed success in whatever you attempted?

5. What three words would you most like to have said about you if you died today?

6. What is one value, a deep commitment, from which you would never budge?

7. What is the material possession most significant to you?

8. What is your greatest achievement of the past year?

9. What three words (qualities) would you like to have associated with you? These could become your personal motto, words to live by.

Source: Simon, S.B. (1974). Meeting yourself halfway. Niles, IL: Argus.

After completing the Coat of Arms exercise, record your observations in your journal, completing at least one of the following sentences:

I’ve become aware… After some reflection, I’ve decided… I’m proud of myself because I…

Have any of the activities in Section I suggested any needs you may have for mentoring? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal.

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?

Section II: What Do You Need to Get to the Next Level? Exploring Your Mentoring Needs

The concept of self-managed mentoring is about clarifying your values, assessing your own mentoring needs, setting goals and developing an action plan to achieve your goals. In other words, you design your own unique mentoring program.

The map that describes your mentoring strategies will be unlike anyone else’s. Your life experiences are always in flux and are being shaped by how you deal with life on life’s terms. As in any wise planning process, establishing a vision is the first step. The exercises in this section will help you reflect on the big picture of YOU and give you an opportunity to notice your themes and ruts, and consider alternative futures for YOU.

Every reality begins with an idea, a dream, a vision. Journaling your dreams, no matter how extravagant or insignificant they may be, helps to give shape to the path of the future. Recording these dreams in one place will help create a big picture of your future, illuminating the challenges yet to overcome to achieve your dreams. So take off the blinders of probability and possibility. Throw out the filters of whether you need it, deserve it, or are worth it. List everything here that you’ve ever wanted—to travel, to own, to be or to become. Think about what YOU want. In terms of Self, think about the total you. Consider what you want professionally, financially (materially), socially, physically, intellectually, emotionally, ethically, spiritually, and family relationship-wise. Continue adding to the list in your journal, as you create new dreams.

Step 1: In one sitting, in your journal, make a list of 100 questions that are important to you. The list can include any kind of question as long as it seems significant to you. Your questions may range from “Why is the sky blue?” to “What is the meaning of my existence?” to “How can I laugh more?” to “How can I enjoy the cloudy days more?” to “What grad school is right for me?” Write quickly, don’t edit. Don’t worry about repeating the same question. The first 20 questions will be easy, and the next 30 will offer themes and needs. The final fifty will likely be profound thoughts and unexpected discoveries.

Step 2: Reflection. Once you have the 100 questions written, set them aside. In another sitting, consider the emerging themes without judging them. Write your observations about the list in your journal. Look at the themes that are present…what do they say about the challenges and focus that you are presented?

Step 3: Your Top Ten. Choose the 10 questions of your 100 that seem most significant to you. Rank them in the order of importance to you. Don’t try to answer them, just put them in one place where you can easily find them.

Step I: From the list of values (both work and personal), select the ten that are most important to you—as guides for how to behave, or as components of a valued way of life. Feel free to add any values of your own to the list.

Step 2: Now that you have identified ten values, imagine if you are only permitted to have five values. Which five would you give up? Cross them off.

Step 3:From the remaining five values, identify you top three and circle them.

Step 4: Take a look at your top three values and answer the following questions in your journal:

1. Exactly what do the value terms mean to you? What are you expecting from yourself—even in bad times?

2. How would your life be different if those values were prominent and practiced?

3. What would an organization be like that encouraged its employees to live up to those values?

4. Are you willing to choose a life in which these values are paramount?

Take a look at the list of professional competencies that could enhance your career success. Check off the #1 area of your concern in the eight categories presented.

Once you have identified your “Big 8,” answer the following questions in your journal:

• Why do you see this area currently as “incompetence”? What specifically is the gap in skill or knowledge that you see in your life or career?
• How will learning about that area impact your life or career?
• If you displayed that area competently, what doors would it open for you?
• Professional vision—what would possessing that competency bring to you?

From my 100 questions activity, what themes are present to me that I need to explore further? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal.

What situation or type of relationship recurs in your life? Does this suggest a need? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal.

From your dream inventory, what do you want to change in your life that will help you get what you want? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal.

From your Checklist of Personal Values, what must you do in order to put your life and career pursuits in alignment with your personal values? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal.

From the Checklist for Professional Competencies, enter the eight needs you have identified in the first few pages of journal.

Given your history and current situation, what do you need to get to the next level? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal.

Complete the Goal-Setting Worksheet:

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?

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.

3 A’s Of Primary Mentors

Mentors are classified by Darling & Schatz (1991) into three categories.

	ATTRACTION: Feeling Drawn to Your Mentor "I felt drawn toward…" I was inspired by…" "I enjoyed being with…"
	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…"
	AFFECT: The Mentor Has Positive Feelings About You "She gave me confidence…" "He listened to me…" "She helped me learn to trust myself…"

Professional Mentoring Behaviors

The following Table describes the "3 A's" and the component characteristics in more detail and serves as an assessment instrument.

Role Model

Attraction Domain

Investor

Action Domain

Supporter

Affect Domain

Adapted from the research of Lu Ann W. Darling, Ed.D., based on 100 interviews with nurses and dietitians (Darling & Schatz, 1991).

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.

3 Mentoring Domains

Primary Mentors possess characteristics from all three domains. Secondary Mentors will possess characteristics from one or two of these domains.

Who are your Primary and Secondary Mentors? List them below, and add to your list as you gain new mentors.

Complete the following sentence in your journal: “In looking for a mentoring relationship, the style of mentor I value includes the following roles: …”

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….

Methods for Self-Mentoring

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.

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:

• 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.

Mentee Checklist*

Total________

Scoring:

21-30 You should be an excellent mentee.

11-20 You need some time to think about your needs, abilities, and the nature of your commitment.

10 or less You appear to have no desire to find a mentor.

*Adapted from Phillips-Jones, L. (1982). Mentors and protégés. New York: Arbor House.

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.

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?

Section IV: Developing Your Mentoring Action Plan

The development of a Self-Mentoring Plan requires analysis of the available resources. In other words, you need to explore alternative human and knowledge resources that could assist you in your planning for mentoring, and then determine which is the best approach to get what you need.

Your specific developmental challenges may require one of three types of mentorship: traditional, step-ahead or peer mentorship. You may also find value in secondary mentoring relationships like social or professional network connections or a niche mentor.

Traditional Mentors are the revered elder members of society/family, possessing wisdom or experience. The department head of the university would fit into this category.

Step-Ahead Mentors are the older siblings of society/family. They are slightly older and have more experience and knowledge. A graduate level student would be a step-ahead mentor for an undergrad.

Peer Mentors are our equals in society/family. They are from our peer group and are our colleagues and friends with whom we cooperatively share and learn.

Secondary Mentors can be extremely helpful in filling mentoring needs, especially when the ties you form are developed correctly and used wisely. Though an individual network tie may be of the secondary mentoring variety, when taken as a whole, the network may have the combined impact of a primary mentor.

A Niche Mentor will assist with one specific skill or task.

Given your current needs (on your goal worksheet), what value could each of these types of mentors bring to you as you work through the challenge presented? For example, how could a traditional mentor best help me with this issue? How could a step-ahead mentor help me with the issue? What value could a peer mentor bring with this issue? Consider the existing or potential networking opportunities in your life and determine if this mentoring avenue might be used more effectively and bring value to the issue at hand. Is there a niche in your life that needs a mentor now? Write the answers to these questions in your journal. Then identify which type of mentor is best suited to the issue of concern.

What Style of Mentor Is Best for Me?

The power in a mentor-mentee relationship is an important consideration. In activity 3.1b, you considered what mentoring role is most valuable to you. W. A. Gray (1986) describes four levels of power in the mentor-mentee relationship. These levels illustrate the development of a formal mentoring relationship. Willingness and openness to learn are absolute requirements for any type of mentoring. Level 1 is almost like sitting at the feet of the mentor, absorbing the mentor’s wisdom and submissively acting upon the direction of the mentor within your value system. Some may find this level of relationship challenging. However, heed the mentoring paradox: You cannot mentor others unless you are willing to be mentored yourself.

The level 1 power relationship will likely apply if you have no successful experience or competence in the area of pursuit. If being in the level 1 state of the relationship troubles you, be encouraged by the concept that these are stages that one passes through. When you begin to gain experience and wisdom, the power relationship should shift to “higher” levels.

Whatever level you begin at in your mentoring relationship will be determined by your willingness and motivation to learn in combination with your competence in the area. Hersey (1984) tracks the leader’s (mentor’s) role with the follower’s (mentee’s) role. When you enter into a mentoring relationship, you must honestly assess your willingness and ability and then choose a mentor who meets the needs of the level you require for growth.

Toxic Mentors

No environment is free from adversity. Seldom does a relationship develop smoothly and without crisis. Carl Jung said there is no coming to consciousness without pain. Every relationship has the potential for toxic effects, and the mentoring relationship is no exception.

You will not find a “perfect” mentor, but what you want to seek instead are real and honest connections. Perfection has no depth and no personality. Imperfection means that sometimes we will get upset with others, or they will get upset with us. The mentor-mentee relationship requires a commitment to stay in the relationship dialogue as long as both people are willing to work on the relationship. Working through crises is how a relationship grows from simply being an idea to having its unique reality.

The rough spots may frighten you. You may wonder what’s wrong with me or with the other person, or the relationship. You cannot escape such questions. To run from the challenge cuts off the possibilities for growth. Learning to limit the negative consequences of such relationships may be a necessary life lesson for you.

Keeping that in mind, there are several types of toxic mentors that you may have in your life:

• The “Avoider” is the person who is never accessible.
• The “Dumper” lets the mentee get into a new role or situation and lets them sink or swim.
• The “Blocker” either avoids meeting the mentee’s needs, withholds information, or blocks development by supervising too closely.
• The “Criticizer” publicly tears down a person or constantly criticizes.

There are several ways of handling toxic mentoring relationships.

• If the fit isn’t right, be honest about the difficulties you sense in the relationship and end the relationship with the mentor. If you still need mentoring, find another mentor that fits better with what you need.
• If you can’t stay away from the toxic relationship, balance the relationship with a support network and or draw upon your own internal resources to minimize the detrimental effects.
• Although toxic relationships have an impact, you can look for opportunities in the situation and not be blinded by the dangers you foresee. Using the list of questions below may help you find opportunities in the situation:

What is great about this problem? (Robbins, 1991)

• What is great about this problem?
• What is not perfect yet?
• What am I willing to do to make it the way I want it?
• What am I willing to no longer do in order to make it the way I want it?
• How can I enjoy the process while I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?

In your journal, consider the primary mentors you have had in your life (Activity 3.1a.). Were any of them “toxic” mentors? What impact did that toxicity have on you at the time? What impact does it have on you today? Consider your secondary mentors listed in Activity 3.1a. Were any of them “toxic” mentors? What impact did that toxicity have on you at the time? What impact does it have on you today? How will you deal with toxic mentors in the future?

Consider the supportive functions listed in the attached activity. Write down them names of the people who provide this type of support to you.

When you have completed the review, assess what type of support is missing in your life and add that area to a mentoring need.

Reviewing Your System of Social Support*

Consider the supportive functions listed. Write down the names of the people who provide this type of support to you.

When you have completed the review, assess what type of support is missing in your life and add that area to a mentoring need.

*Adapted from Herman, S. J. (1978). Becoming assertive: A guide for nurses. New York: D. Van Nostrand, Publishers.

Have any of the activities in Section IV suggested any other needs you may have for mentoring? Enter those needs on the first pages of your journal. As you look at the list of mentoring needs on the first pages of your journal, brainstorm at least three names of people that could mentor you in that area. Each area may have different names attached, but you may also see a recurring name as you look at the big picture of YOU. As you brainstorm potential names, think about people in the academic atmosphere—including faculty, students and administrators. Think about your family—maybe a parent, an aunt or uncle, sibling, or family friend. Consider other circles of people that are available to you in your Church community, volunteer life, organizations you belong to. In listing the names, write down people who practice the skill you wish to develop, people you admire and trust who may or may not have the desired skill, but may be able to refer you or make an introduction of you to a qualified person. KON headquarters may also be able to refer you to as persons who possess the desired skills AND are willing to serve as mentors. As far as “passive mentoring,” are there organizations or volunteer opportunities that you could be affiliated with that would likely offer you opportunity to develop the desired skills?

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?

Section V: Creating Your Mentoring Plan

Look over your accumulated list of mentoring needs in the first pages of your journal. Identify your top five needs on the list. How do you make this selection?

Think about your self-criticism…what areas do you always “beat yourself up about?” For example, “I wouldn’t be in this crisis if I was a better time manager.” “Why do I always get myself in situations like this?” What are you tired of hearing from yourself?

Listen to the feedback you get from others. For example: “If you had used a more diplomatic approach, you might have gotten more information.” “Speak up, I can’t hear you.” “ I don’t understand what you are trying to say here.” Is there a frequent message you receive from others that should be addressed at this time?

What does your overall visionscape require of you? To get you to the next level of your career, what do you need to do, learn, experience?

Print and complete this worksheet to develop your plan. Use one table for each of your five prioritized needs.

Your Role as Mentee

If you have completed the exercises in this self-contained course, you should now have a plan of action to pursue. Yet you still have to make the calls and ask for mentoring assistance from the appropriate parties. Taking this action may be a developmental challenge for you as well! (If so, put it on your list!) This even has a name--call reluctance. Call reluctance is the fear that takes hold that prevents you from picking up the phone and asserting yourself to get what you need. Many factors contribute to call reluctance, but let’s approach the issue from the state of ego perspective.

Early in life, you may have learned that it is not okay to (Richo, 1991, p. 22):

• show your real feelings
• give or receive openly
• ask for things directly
• tell your opinions
• take care of your own interests
• say ‘No’ to what you do not want
• act as if you deserved abundance.

These beliefs are injunctions against having power in relationships. To the extent that we internalize these beliefs, we disable ourselves and limit our own capacities to overcome developmental challenges and get what we need in life. If you have learned these lessons, you will likely act out of a fear state of ego, rather than a healthy state of ego.

Fear gives your power away and holds you in a passive state. That passivity contributes to these behaviors (Richo, 1991):

• Refusing to express feelings, act, or decide because of what MIGHT happen to you. (The worst that that really could happen is that the person you ask to mentor you could say “no”. That’s an honest response. Clarify why the answer is no and understand that the response is due to the other person honoring their own boundaries—a skill you may personally need to develop! Then move on and ask your next best candidate for mentoring.)
• Making excuses for others’ hurtful behavior and not dealing with them about it.
• Over-politeness: always putting others first or letting them take your turn or disturb you without your speaking up.
• Acting from a sense of obligation (a form of fear).
• Smoothing over situations so that the real feelings do not emerge (from yourself or others)
• Over-commitment: doing too much for too long for too little thanks, and when even more is asked of you, doing it dutifully.
• Not registering your recoil from biased remarks or jokes.
• Abandoning yourself by assessing abuse of you from the past or present as justified or “understandable”.
• Avoiding decisive action by coping with an unsatisfactory situation or relationship or hoping it might change. WHAT WE ARE NOT CHANGING, WE ARE CHOOSING!

Here is how a healthy ego will operate (Richo, 1991, pp. 26-28):

1. Be clear. Say yes when you mean yes, no when you mean no, and maybe when you mean maybe. (Note that assertiveness means being clear, not necessarily sure.) Show your feelings, choices, and agenda openly. Check out your fantasies, doubts, fears, and intuitions with those whom they concern. Tell people it is not acceptable for them to judge, hurt, or blame you.

2. Ask for what you want. Clarify the emotional content of messages from others. Acknowledge your feelings in the interaction, and assess what you need from the other person—Nurturance? Appreciation? Constructive criticism? Or did you intend to simply vent and just need a listener?

3. Take responsibility. Accept another’s right to make assertions to you. Clarify with the other about their feelings toward you. Acknowledge your feelings. Finish your emotional unfinished business directly with the people involved or in your own therapy. Admit your mistakes, oversights, and offenses, and make amends.

Which of these perspectives sounds more like you? If the healthy ego is not your current mode of operation, print this section of the course, and carry these three steps with you and begin practicing the three steps. Even if you don’t feel like it! When you practice “as if” you are an assertive person, your brain will take the cue and begin to believe the “as if” reality! In fact, this concept can be used to turn around any negative belief you hold about yourself. The key to convincing your brain of a new positive reality is repetition and consistency. Using affirmations like those that follow, on a repeated basis, COMBINED WITH blocking out negative self-talk, can literally change your perceived reality:

• “I can make this call.”
• “I deserve this nurturing relationship.”
• “I am an assertive person.”
• “I open myself to get the support I need.”
• “I ask for what I want from others and let the chips fall where they may.”
• “I allow others to say ‘No’ to me and take it as information.”
• “I drop the ‘shoulds;’ I make choices.”
• “I always have a choice.”

The Mentee-Mentor Relationship

As you pursue the relationships, there are certain responsibilities you must honor in the relationship:

• Be totally dedicated
• Assess your own individual needs
• Construct a Goal-Setting Plan
• Take the initiative in skill development
• Be proactive in your career development
• Actively participate in the mentoring relationship
• Take full advantage of the training and assistance offered
• Accept and follow through on the mentor’s advice
• Employ the rules of confidentiality
• Develop and utilize the skill of professionalism in the relationship.

Tips for Holding Up Your Side of the Mentor-Mentee Relationship

To enhance the effectiveness of your relationship, follow these tips:

1. Be on time. Being late for an appointment is inconsiderate and shows lack of organization, respect and self-management. If a conflict should occur and you cannot be present or will be late, call as soon as possible, and reschedule at a mutually agreeable time.

2. Accept your mentor’s advice. If you disagree with what you are hearing, ask questions and share your reluctance to complete the activity. You may simply need clarification of the assignment, or may be missing a vital piece of information. Keep the communication honest and open at all times.

3. Be honest. Share your concerns, fears, and failures, as well as joys and successes. Your mentor needs to know all sides of you in order to help you grow. So be authentic in your sharing.

4. Maintain your journal throughout the experience. Share relevant journal entries, particularly some of the activities completed in this first course. These entries will help your mentor get the big picture of YOU and demonstrate your sincerity and commitment to the mentoring relationship.

5. Inform your mentor of relevant training and employment experience. Your mentor doesn’t want to waste your time and energy by being redundant. Openly share how you are receiving the input that is being offered.

6. Ask clarifying questions, and then listen carefully. If you need additional information, or don’t know how, to start a project, or don’t understand why a task would be useful to you, ask questions. Your mentor wants to help you but cannot read your mind! You are the only one who knows how much information you need to understand fully. Clarifying expectations shows initiative, interest, and commitment.

Conclusion

As you take charge of your own mentoring, you will need to do an occasional review and update of your action plan. In addition minor and major life crises and unusual opportunities will signal the need to review and update your plan. Self-mentoring also requires evaluation of progress in managing your own personal and professional development.

Completing the activities in this course will give you tools to take hold of your life and direct toward what you want it to be. Once you complete your action plan for your top five priorities, then come back to the list of mentoring needs and walk through the planning process once again, including assessing your current situation, brainstorming for appropriate mentors, setting goals and action plans. You may wish to revisit this site to assist you through that re-evaluation and process.

By choosing the mentor relationships that fit your style and developmental stage, you will enhance the quality and vitality of your mentoring mosaic. As you become more competent in managing your own mentoring, perhaps you will feel confident in assuming a mentoring role for others. In this way you can actualize the professional role by overtly displaying the characteristics “that positively represent the standards of your profession and a commitment to advancing the profession.”

References

Cameron, J. (1996). The vein of gold. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Darling, L.W., & Schatz, P.E. (1991, August). Mentoring self-management workshop for Kappa Omicron Nu Conclave.

Gray, W. A. (1986). Components for developing a successful formalized mentoring program in business, the professions, education, and other settings. In W. A. and M. M. Gray (Eds.), Proceedings of the First International Conference on Mentoring, Vol. II (pp. 15-22). Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Gelb, M. J. (1998). How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci. New York: Delacorte Press.

Herman, S.J. (1978). Becoming assertive: A guide for nurses. New York: D. Van Nostrand.

Hersey, P. (1984). The situational leader. Escondito, CA: Warner Books.

Mitstifer, D. I., Wenberg, B. G., & Schatz, P. E. (1992). Mentoring: The human touch. East Lansing, MI: Kappa Omicron Nu.

Phillips-Jones, L. (1982). Mentors and protégés. New York: Arbor House.

Richo, D. (1991). How to be an adult. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

Robbins, A. (1991). Awaken the giant within. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Roberts, C. (1994). Checklist for personal values. In P. M. Senge, A. Kleiner, C. Roberts, R. B. Ross, & B. J. Smith, The fifth discipline fieldbook. New York: Doubleday.

Strohmeier, S. O., Bonnstetter, B., & Wentworth Drahosz, K. (1993). Mentoring for success. Scottsdale, AZ: Target Training, Intl.

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