" To help other people grow, share your words of wisdom "
All leaders share their expertise, knowledge and experiences and by doing so
are being mentors to their colleagues (who, in mentoring jargon, are
tees). Unfortunately, most leaders do this very badly because they have never
been taught how to professionally mentor other people. Their most Common
mistakes include:
Most Common Mistakes:
• Sharing favourite stories and anecdotes from their careers that may have
no relevance to what a mentee's challenges are and what they're seeking
help with.
• Lecturing a mentee without asking any questions to better understand the
mentee's actual needs or to clarify if the mentee is understanding what is
being said.
• Not listening to the mentee and treating the mentoring as a one-way com-
munication process and an opportunity to show off and impress.
• Learning nothing from the mentee's own experiences.
Poor Mentoring:
Poor mentoring is counter-productive and can leave a mentee struggling to
find value in and apply the advice the leader has given them. The resulting
confusion and sense of being stupid can be very demotivating and disengag-
ing. This is comparable to a leader always being directive through telling.
lecturing and teaching and their staff just have to listen.
Best practice mentoring is not simply about giving other people your advice,
experience and opinions, it's a journey of discovery involving:
Journey of Discovery Include:
•A two-way sharing and learning process, in which the mentor helps the
mentee reflect upon their own experiences, build up their own wisdom,
become mature and improve the depth and breadth of their thinking.
• The mentor asking insight-provoking questions rather than simply giving
advice. At appropriate moments, they may draw upon their own experi-
ences and share helpful insights and suggestions aligned with the mentee's
own needs, situation and context.
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