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Ranjith Menon
Background
Mentoring, is the process by which people help a protg to promote his/her personal and professional growth for organizational success. Mentoring is routinely seen as manifesting soft skills such as the classical virtues of kindness and generosity. The fact that it can also be harsh seems to escape the mind of most theorists. Therefore an account of a real mentoring relationship, one that is widely recognized and one in which various mentoring styles are manifested, becomes necessary.
The choice of Krishna as the ideal mentor is due to the fact that Krishna performed multiple roles and had numerous mentoring styles. He was leader, manager, negotiator, manipulator, motivator, influencer, all rolled into one. An account of his mentorship would therefore enable us see the diverse styles of mentoring that are needed for diverse situations.
Arjuna was the individual on whose shoulders the morale of Pandavas rested. His well being heralded victory and he was symbolic of Pandava valour & glory. He was proud of his achievements, but he was also very vain and sensitive to other people's opinion of him. Though a younger brother, he had no elder brother to look up to. In fact, he was responsible for looking after the family since Yudhishthira, the eldest was unable to do so. Thus, he had varied needs as an individual.
Krishna saw the needs as well as the potential of his young friend and built a successful mentoring relationship. As the account of not just the war but the entire Pandava saga shows, Krishna's help would enable Arjuna to surmount obstacles and achieve success personally as well as professionally i.e in his duties as a warrior and a prince.
What lessons of mentoring may be learned from their relationship? How was he able to provide support and guidance to an individual whose needs were so diverse and so intense?
Krishna criticised Arjuna's decisions openly but never denigrated or insulted him. Krishna focused on the issues involved without being judgemental. He did not engage in personal humiliation of Arjuna. Arjuna therefore knew that Krishna would provide him with sound advice and not be swayed by the fear of negatively affecting their relationship.
Krishna was friend cum counselor to Arjuna and took the time out to help resolve Arjuna's personal distress. When Arjuna faced a moral crisis in fighting his relatives, Krishna came to the rescue by propounding the philosophy enshrined in the Gita. He did not resort to a simplistic command tactic, but made the effort to resolve Arjuna's moral distress to the best of his ability.
Search for ways to enable the protg become aware of his limitations-encourage self awareness
There are tales of Krishna destroying Arjuna's vanity. This was never done openly. The tales talk of tests in which he was destined to fail. At the last moment when a dejected Arjuna would be lonely and depressed and thinking of committing suicide, Krishna would appear and tell him the reason for these tests. These tests were related to Arjuna's overblown pride in his prowess as an archer. Following these tests, a chastened Arjuna vanquished his vanity and worked towards setting higher standards and viewing failure with maturity.
Conclusion
These are seven cardinal principles that can enable a successful mentoring relationship. Techniques and tactics for putting these into effect may differ, but as Stephen Covey puts it, it is important to be clear about principles. The question then arises as to whether the same relationship can be built today. This is possible if one makes it a personal goal to be a complete mentor and emulate the multiple styles of Krishna. The other means is to select a role that one is comfortable with & can excel in and provide mentoring support to those that need it . That choice is ours.
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