Mentoring:

Grundstzlich steht allerdings stets die Vermittlung von (Erfahrungs-) Wissen im Vordergrund (mit
gegenseitigen Geben und Nehmen).

Mentees erhalten unter anderem die Mglichkeit,

die eigenen Fhigkeiten besser kennen und einschtzen zu lernen

Untersttzung bei Ttigkeit (z. B. im Studium, im Unternehmen, in Partei) zu erhalten
selbige effizienter zu gestalten
Ideen fr die Berufsfindung zu entwickeln
Einblicke in die Strukturen der Berufswelt zu erhalten und entsprechende Kontakte zu
knpfen
Mut zur eigenen Karriere zu entwickeln und diese zielstrebig anzugehen
Einbindung in ein Netzwerk, das neue Impulse ebenso wie konkrete Hilfe bieten kann
(Praktika, Stellenangebote, Karrierefrderung etc.)

Fr Mentoren liegen die Chancen darin,

Einblicke in die aktuelle Forschung zu bekommen

frische Ideen und Impulse vom akademischen Nachwuchs zu erhalten
qualifizierten Nachwuchs fr das eigene Unternehmen/ die eigene Institution
aufzubauen und zu rekrutieren
eigenes Arbeiten zu reflektieren
soziale und kommunikative Kompetenzen zu trainieren
Kontakte auch zu anderen Mentoren aufzubauen
im Netzwerk neue Kooperationsmglichkeiten zu gewinnen

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Heute besteht die wichtigste Funktion von MentorInnen darin, die Mentee bewusst an den
eigenen Erfahrugen teilhaben zu lassen und die Weiterentwicklung der beruflichen
Laufbahn ("Karriere") individuell zu frdern:

Strategische Ratschlge fr den Karriereweg geben

Neue Kontakte und Zutritt zu Netzwerken ermglichen
Neue berufliche Chancen und Aufgaben zu untersttzen

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 In der Auswahlphase kommen Mentor und Mentee zusammen. Untersttzt wird der
Auswahlprozess meist von der Personalentwicklungsabteilung des Unternehmens.

In der Vereinbarungsphase steht das gegenseitige Kennenlernen im Vordergrund.

Dabei werden z.B. Erwartungen, Dauer, Ziele und Termine des Mentorings
ausgetauscht und schriftlich fixiert.

Die Arbeitsphase besteht aus regelmigen Treffen von Mentor und Mentee, wobei
der Mentee situationsbezogene Untersttzung in Form von Input oder Feedback durch
den Gesprchsaustausch mit dem Mentor erhlt. Folgende Themenfelder knnen dabei
z.B. eine Rolle spielen: das Unternehmen, die berufliche Entwicklung und Karriere,
die Fhrung im Unternehmen, die Pflege von Netzwerken.

Im Vordergrund der Auswertungsphase steht die Analyse der gemeinsamen Arbeit

durch einen Abgleich von Ergebnissen und Zielen. Meist findet dies im Rahmen eines
Abschlussgesprches statt.

Beim Coaching handelt es sich ebenfalls um ein Personalfrderungsinstrument (vgl.

Olfert, 2010, S. 165). Genau wie das Mentoring erfllt das Coaching eine beratende
Funktion. Im Gegensatz zum Coaching erfolgt das Mentoring jedoch unentgeltlich durch
ein hierarchisch hher stehendes Mitglied des Unternehmens. Beim Coaching ist die
Beziehung eher neutral und gleichberechtigt. Zudem ist Mentoring auf einen lngeren
Zeitraum angelegt, wobei Coaching eher punktuell bei spezifischen Problemen
Anwendung findet. (vgl. Becker, 2009, S. 546-547). Auerdem konzentriert sich
Mentoring auf die Frderung von Personen, die zwischen verschiedenen beruflichen
Phasen steht. Coaching zielt primr auf Gegebenheiten innerhalb einer beruflichen Phase
ab (vgl. Stock-Homburg, 2008, S. 196)

Die Funktion des Mentors (Becker, 2009, S. 546)

Hilfe beim systematischen Knpfen von Kontakten (Networking)

Vermittlung informaler Strukturen
Personenbezogene Weitergabe von Wissen
Weitergabe von Erfahrung in Verfahrensweisen
Weitergabe von Normen und Werten
Vermittlung sozial erwnschter Formen des beruflichen Miteinanders
Untersttzung der beruflichen Entwicklung des Mentees

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What are the respective responsibilities

of the mentor and the mentee?
The mentors responsibility is, first and foremost, to make sure they really want to be a
mentor. Mentoring is very rewarding, but doing it properly can also be time-consuming.

After familiarising themselves with the organisations approach to mentoring, it is to facilitate

the sessions and pass-on their knowledge in a way that the mentee can use to achieve success.
The mentees responsibility is to be proactive in setting-up the sessions, prepare properly and
make the best use of their session with the mentor.

How do you facilitate a mentoring session?

Imagine you are a mentor. There are obviously many ways to facilitate a mentoring session.
Many of these approaches are based on creative problem-solving.

The mentor starts by creating a stimulating sanctuary. They make the person feel welcome
and clarify the topics the person wants to explore. They then make clear working contracts
and agree on the goals for the session.

Different mentors use different models to help a person to explore these themes. Here is one
approach called the Classic Mentoring Model. The mentor focuses on the 5Cs.

They encourage the person to explore their Challenges; Choices; Consequences; Creative
Solutions and Conclusions. The aim is to enable the person to take away practical tools they
can use to achieve ongoing success.

Here are some questions the mentor may ask the person at each stage of the model.

* Challenges
What are the topics you would like to explore? What for you would make it a successful
session?

Looking at these various themes, which is the first challenge you would like to tackle? Can
you give some background and explain what is happening at the moment?

Looking at the challenge, what are the real results you want to achieve? If there are several
results you want to achieve, lets put these in order of priority.

Looking at the situation, what are the controllables? How can you build on what you can
control and manage what you cant?
Lets summarise the things we have covered? What are your specific goals? What are the
real results you want to achieve? What is your picture of success?

Lets be crystal-clear on the What before moving onto the How.

* Choices
Lets consider the possible choices you have for tackling this challenge.

What do you see as Option A? (Doing nothing is, of course, an option.) What is Option B;
Option C; Option D; Option E? What other strategies have you tried before? Are there any
other possible options?

* Consequences
Lets consider the consequences of each option. What are the pluses and minuses involved in
pursuing Option A; Option B; Option C; Option D; Option E?

We will soon be exploring any other potential creative solutions, but first lets check your
gut feeling for each of the possibilities. Rate the attractiveness of each option. Do this on a
scale 010.

* Creative Solutions
This is the point where good mentors earn their corn. They ask if it okay to share ideas for
reaching the goal. They then pass on knowledge, tools and models the mentee can use to
achieve success. So they may say something like the following.

Lets move onto the other possible creative solutions. First, lets re-establish your goals.
What are the real results you want to achieve?

Looking at the different options you have outlined: Is it possible to take the best parts from
each option and create a new road?

Looking at the goals you want to achieve, here are some other possibilities you may wish to
consider. For example, it could possible:

* To

* To

* To

Looking at these other possibilities, are they any that resonate with you? If so, lets explore
those in more depth.

Lets consider your strengths where you deliver As, rather than Bs or Cs. How can you use
your strengths and assets to tackle the challenge? How can you complement your strengths by
getting other kinds of support?
Lets learn from your positive history. Have you ever been in a similar situation in the past
and managed it successfully? What did you do right? How can you follow these principles
again in the future?

What can we learn from other people who have tackled similar challenges successfully?
What did they do right to achieve their goals? How can you follow some of these principles in
your own way?

Lets return to the results you want to achieve. What are the three key things you can do to
give yourself the greatest chance of success? Looking at the challenge: Are there any other
possible creative solutions?

Good mentors pass-on knowledge in a way the person can accept. The key is to clarify which
ideas resonate with the person. This is easier to see with extroverts. When working with
introverts, however, the mentor keeps saying something like:

Looking at the ideas we have explored, which ones resonate? Which would you like to
explore further? Which might be useful in this situation?

During this stage the mentor will often go through the creative process of opening up and
then closing down. They will sit alongside the person, explore many ideas and see which
resonate.

After a while, they will close down by inviting the person to settle on the ideas they would
like to explore further. Pursuing this theme further, they may then again go through the
process of opening up and closing down.

Each mentor will do this in their own way and continue until the mentee is ready to move
onto the next stage.
* Conclusions
There is often a natural rhythm to a mentoring session. The mentor will encourage the mentee
to explore the first challenge, choices and consequences.

After considering the potential creative solutions, the mentee reflects and then, at a certain
point, will be ready to move onto the final stage their conclusions.

They settle on their plan for tackling the challenge. When it feels appropriate, the mentor
enables them to take this step by using some of the following questions.

Looking at the different options we have discussed, which route do you want to travel? What
will be the pluses and minuses of pursuing this option? Are you prepared to accept the whole
package?

Lets move on to your action plan. What steps must you take to reach your goals? How can
you make this happen? Momentum is vital, so how can you get an early success? You can
only do your best, of course, and make sure you also have a back-up plan.

What is the next challenge you want to tackle?

There are many models for facilitating a mentoring session. The 5C model is one approach.
The mentor can use it to enable people to achieve ongoing success.

So how does the strength

approach fit into mentoring?
Different mentors will obviously have different approaches to mentoring. This will influence
the kind of questions they ask.

Mentors who lean towards the strengths approach will invite mentees to focus on their
strengths and successful style when exploring creative solutions. As mentioned earlier, they
will ask questions like:

Lets consider your strengths. Where do you deliver As, rather than Bs or Cs. How can you
use your strengths to tackle the challenge? How can you manage the consequences of your
weaknesses? How can you complement your strengths by getting other kinds of support?

Lets learn from your positive history. Have you ever been in a similar situation in the past
and managed it successfully? What did you do right? How can you follow these principles
again in the future?

They will aim to pass on practical tools the mentee can use:

* To build on their strengths.

* To manage the consequences of their weaknesses.

* To achieve ongoing success.

There are many ways to be a mentor. Whichever approach is used, the aim is to enable the
mentee to achieve their personal or professional goals.

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Imagine that somebody has asked you to be their mentor. There are many models for
mentoring. One of these is described in a companion piece called 3 tips for facilitating a
mentoring session. That article provides practical tools you can use to follow the Classic 5C
Model.

You can start by creating a stimulating sanctuary and clarifying the persons picture of
success. You can then help them to focus on their challenges, choices, consequences, creative
solutions and conclusions. The aim is to encourage and enable the person to achieve ongoing
success.

Before going into the first session, however, it can be useful to clarify what you can and cant
offer as a mentor. Here are three things you can do to clarify your offering.

1) You can clarify whether you really want to be a mentor.

Mentors are wise and trusted advisers. They pass on knowledge in a way that helps the
mentee to achieve their personal or professional goals.

Good mentoring calls for being prepared to spend quality time with the mentee. The
frequency of the meetings can be worked out together, but you may need to set aside at least 2
to 3 hours every quarter. Bearing in mind the commitment involved, try tackling the exercise
on this theme.

First, describe your reasons for wanting to be a mentor. You may, for example, want to share
knowledge, help others to grow and, in the process, learn something yourself.

Second, describe the pluses of being a mentor. There will hopefully be benefits for the
mentee, yourself and maybe also for your organisation. Also describe any potential minuses
involved.

Finally, on a scale 0 10, rate your desire to be a mentor. Try completing the following
sentences.
Make sure the motivation is at least 8+/10. Assuming you are ready to make the necessary
commitment, move onto the next step.

2) You can clarify what you can and cant offer as a mentor.

Great mentors provide an encouraging environment, but they are also clear on The Deal.
They are clear on what they can and cant offer the mentee. They also clarify: a) Their
responsibilities; b) The mentees responsibilities. Bearing these things in mind, they then
make clear contract with the mentee.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme called My Mentoring Offering. One person wrote:

I can offer the mentee time; encouragement; an overview of their situation; problem-solving
skills and knowledge of this organisation. I cant offer magic solutions or do the work for
them.

Try completing the following sentences.

3) You can clarify the characteristics of your ideal mentee.

Frequently we ask mentees to clarify the qualities they want in their ideal mentor. Similarly, it
is important for the mentor to understand the kind of mentee with whom they work best. One
mentor wrote:

I like working with somebody who is positive, professional and wants to be a peak
performer. They also often like learning from many different fields, such as business, the arts
and sports. I tend to work best with people in the newer industries. Such people like to write
the new rules, rather than be strait-jacketed by the old ones.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme called My Ideal Mentee. Each of us works best with
certain kinds of people. It does not mean that we cannot work with others. But it is good to
know the qualities we want in our students, team members or mentees.

You will then be more equipped to move onto the next step, which is facilitating the actual
mentoring session.


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