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The following questions are frequently raised
by protégés, their managers and mentors. These issues are briefly
addressed here in an effort to put potential participants at ease.
More effective forums for responding to these issues in greater
detail are focus groups, program orientations or training workshops.
These issues are important, and if not resolved to the satisfaction
of a potential participant, will form barriers to learning new
information and in forming successful partnerships. |
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Is mentoring in a
formalized format "real" mentoring? |
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The mentoring is real because it is
entered into as a voluntary agreement between two parties in order to
accomplish a specific purpose. Each party understands the need to build
the relationship from the ground up with full commitment to make it
productive and satisfying. The commitment of both parties is documented in
the form of a written agreement or learning plan, which contains their own
ground rules for the partnership, statement of roles, expectations,
learning objectives and discussion topics.
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How can you build trust in a relationship that is somewhat
"manufactured" ? |
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Once the partners have created their agreement and
begin to live by it, they begin to build trust in the same way as in other
relationships. Trust is earned, gradually. Trust is built from knowledge
gathered over a period of time about how others operate. Most of us are
continually asking ourselves a series of basic questions that we need to
have answered in order for us to trust. We ask such questions as, "Does
this person keep their word? Does the person walk the talk? Is the person
believable?" When we have gathered enough information about how another
person operates, we feel safe in making predictions about what he or she
are likely to do.
The more we share without harm coming to us and the more we gain from the
sharing, the more likely we are to trust and divulge additional
information about ourselves without fear of a breach of confidentiality.
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What is the role of the protégé's supervisor?
Does it change?
Will the supervisor feel threatened by the
presence of a mentor? |
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The role of the protégé's supervisor does not change in
relation to his or her duties toward subordinates. As the protégé grows in
capability to communicate across levels, and works more closely with his
or her supervisor in developmental assignments, the relationship between
supervisor and subordinate is likely to change in a positive direction.
The vast majority of supervisors relish the positive changes in their
subordinates, and many wish they had the time, energy and know-how to
invest in all of their subordinates' development.
There are individuals who are not comfortable with a senior-level person
influencing the career of a subordinate (protégé). The supervisor can use
these feelings as a signal that her or his own growth and development
needs some attention.
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What about the time
commitment?
How long does it take?
Should we use company time or are we strictly on our own time? |
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One of the great advantages of mentoring dialogues is
that they take very little time in actual hours invested to produce a
learning result. After the orientation and training phases are completed,
mentor/protégé partners spend about two to four hours per month together.
The actual number of hours varies according to the guidelines developed by
each program.
These regularly scheduled meetings take place over a twelve month period.
The time spent together is incorporated into their schedules so that there
is very little disruption of the partners' daily work routine.
Many mentor/protégé pairs meet over their lunch period. Most pairs find it
very convenient to have their regular discussions over an extended lunch
period that often includes some company time. Occasionally, a protégé
accompanies a mentor to a meeting, conference, or other event. These
events are usually on company time or at least company sanctioned.
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How can we safely address race and gender
issues in a cross-cultural match? |
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Sharing experiences and perspectives is a natural part
of a growing mentoring relationship. The issues of race and gender can be
a very rich source of learning for both parties. Exploring diversity
issues within a mentoring relationship can be part of the agreed-upon
agenda or allowed to come up naturally in the discussions. Entry into the
dialogue can be as simple as, "I want to know what it's like to be a young
mother in today's workforce. Is this something you feel comfortable
sharing with me?"
Almost any issue can be addressed if we remember that no one wants to have
her/his perspective, ideas or opinions devalued or belittled. If we "seek
first to understand, and then to be understood," almost any issue can be
explored in a mentoring partnership.
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How can protégés keep their peers from becoming
jealous? |
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Peer jealousy is most intense in the early stages of
mentoring programs. This is usually the case because the protégé is picked
from a group of potential candidates and selected to be a part of a small
test group. Frequently peers believe that the protégé test group is
earmarked for the fast track, and that mentoring is a form of special and
favored treatment. The makeup of a pilot group usually needs to be
carefully controlled. This feature of pilot groups might be communicated
to the organization as a
program is being implemented. As a program completes its pilot phase and
is opened to more employees, the initial suspicions tend to evaporate.
Some protégés report that one way to diminish the envy of peers is to
engage in peer mentoring by regularly sharing new knowledge with them.
Other protégés have been instrumental in helping their peers to meet
potential mentors through more informal channels that are always
available. |
