FAQs on Mentoring

1. I have never been a Mentor before , How can I suddenly become one now?

1. There is no age or experience which determines when a person can perform mentoring. There are instances of people younger has used their ability and had helped many of their age and also elders to perform well and to live a life of their own at utmost confidence and mental peace.

Generally as we grow and also have considerable experience, the challenges faced by us in the past make us mentally tough and confident, which helps us also to feel better to advise fresher about the challenges they have to face. Our natural ability to convey our ideas due to our long association with different types of people and different challenging situations in the organization makes us a natural choice.

It is also important that fresher who has abundant talents, energy and career intentions must be properly guided and their efforts streamlined like a check dam to prevent over usage and disappointment and who else except the pillars like us who had put in considerable experience in making our company what is today are better?



2. What are the characteristics of a Mentor

A Mentor first of all should inspire confidence and acceptability in the mind of a mentee. While our age and experience helps us to infuse confidence our approach must make the other person accept us unconditionally. The list may look long but we already possess them and should identify the same within us.

Some of the characters which can help us are,

1. Strong inter personal skills such as SMILE, patience, Empathy, desire to help your mentee,

2. Self Esteem such as belief in your own self, never say die attitude, perseverance

3. Good Communication ability such as Listening, good and appropriate choice of words, conversation and speaking skills, command over language chosen, ability to provide fed back

4. Supervisory skills such as good and through knowledge about the work and working approach, future plans of the organization, challenges faced to be faced in the job and career

5. Knowledge about the department, other departments who are important and having direct and indirect effects on performance, rules and regulations of the organization and policies and philosophy of both department and organization.

6. Strong desire to be of help to the mentee and to be a catalyst and having real pleasure in helping him realize his own potential and ability.


3. What benefit I have for being a MENTOR

If you speak about benefits there are plenty.

You become popular among new recruits and so naturally respected. Your own skills and ability are put to test in a new area, an ability which must suddenly provide new and interesting challenges in your work.

You become alert and ready to face the extra ordinary ability of youngsters who try to test and challenge you with their youth, ignorance, expectation and goals.

All your talents which are not put into test of late, are suddenly found to be useful and you start feeling the importance. Your skills and ability improve and also helps you to bring the best out of you and your mentee.

You are back bone of the vision and goal of a youngster who has set his eyes on his career, his gratitude to you and your help in making his contribution work, the mental satisfaction you have when he performs well and the contribution you make to the organization cannot be measured.

Remember by elevating your mentees thinking and performance level you also elevate yourself to unimaginable heights in your career and performance and mental satisfaction.


4. How long do I have to continue the Mentorship activity?

If you fear that the person will have to mentored through out his service it is not true.
The relationships are based on what is required at that situation and who has the temperament and ability to perform the same on a particular individual.

Your knowledge , ability and skills should match the others in order to form a fruitful combination which works for both and it is either like a one day international match or a test match, the results decide the duration of the relationships.





6. Is there any special skill required for carrying out activities as Mentor?



As explained earlier there is no necessity for special skill or ability required for you to perform as Mentor but some thing which are important are,
Role Model
Provides a model for civil and appropriate behavior and attitudes
A person that the youth admires or wants to be like
Has qualities/values that the youth desires for self.
Expands the youth's perspective and definition of manhood/womanhood
Teacher
Helps youth to acquire knowledge, information, or skills
Shows youth how to do things
Participates with youth in learning new things
Companion
Enjoys doing things with youth
Shares interests and experiences with youth
Spends time talking with and listening to youth
Support
Boosts youth's self-esteem
Conveys warm caring about youth as a person
Gives support to youth's efforts
Listens to youth's ideas and concerns
Expresses believe in youth's abilities
Resource
Provides opportunities to try new things
Introduces youth to new people, places, interests, or ideas
Encourages youth to approach other people as resources
Suggests new sources of information

7. Is Mentoring different from Coaching ?

Mentoring is certainly different from coaching.

Coaching is used when there is a well-defined goal that is based on improving skills and performance.
Mentoring is valuable for career development, providing general guidance, setting and achieving goals, making decisions or facilitating problem solving.
Coaching is about performance, mentoring is personal. So while it is appropriate and desirable for a person's immediate supervisor to coach them, a mentor is best not to be in the direct reporting line

The roles of mentor and coach differ in several ways. The mentor acts as your counselor, providing advice on career paths, development opportunities, and an overview of what it takes to become a leader in the company. Typically, the mentor is a senior manager, like you, at least a few levels above the mentee in the organization. The mentor must have broader experience in the company and the ability to place the mentee into assignments that will help with his development. A critical element in the mentoring relationship is a mutual respect between the mentee and his mentor.


8. Could there be any possible pitfalls in my performance as Mentor?


Mentoring relationships do not always succeed. Some of the most frequent problems with mentoring relationships include:
'MISMATCH' BETWEEN MENTOR AND PROTEGES
A mismatch between the mentor and the mentee can be a cause of failure in the relationship. One or both members of the relationship may feel uneasy with the other, or they may not be able to achieve the level of friendship necessary for rich communication.
UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Problems in the relationship can also occur if the mentee expects or demands too much from the mentor. It is important, therefore, that expectations are clearly-defined from the beginning. The mentee should not expect the relationship to meet every need, nor for it to continue indefinitely.
BREACHES OF CONFIDENTIALITY
In order to develop the type of relationship in which the mentor can be effective, he or she must first be perceived as trustworthy and able to keep confidences.
Since both parties in a mentoring relationship typically realize and accept the fact that a high level of trust is essential in order for an effective relationship to develop, there is little evidence of breaches of confidentiality. However, codes of conduct regarding the confidential nature of the relationship should be clearly defined and understood by both parties at the beginning of every mentoring relationship.


9. Is Mentoring used successfully done anywhere else ?

We have evidence that such activities were performed in Gurukulam type of education in our ancient India and our puranas have several such relationships ( Krishna and Arjuna can be an example)

Japanese organizations who had single employment and employer culture has very effectively used this concept giving names to the mentors as uncle, grand pa, aunty etc. to instill family atmosphere, love and confidence to young employees.

Very successful in many MNCs who has realized the values of senior employees and in organizations where working conditions demand counseling Mentoring is a great success.

Used in many Indian companies successfully for a long time.


10. What should I do to get support in my activity as a Mentor ?

First of all the 2 day program will reinforce your confidence and ability in the new area of your contribution. You are also getting a hand out to help you with information which will immediately help you.

We can also provide you with support and documents as and when you need.
You can feel free to contact us at your convenience for future help and information,