The Mentor's Companion: A Guide to Good Mentoring Practice

by Rhianon Washington

Overview

The Mentor’s Companion is the essential guide to what mentoring is and what are the necessary skills required for it to be effective. Based on in-depth research and case studies, this book introduces a new model—distal mentoring—which embodies best practice and can mitigate negative outcomes. Illustrated with relevant scenarios and mentoring tips, Rhianon Washington lays out the mentoring process step-by-step through its fundamental applications. After the Washington’s initial exploration of the nature of mentoring, she explains key techniques such as deep listening skills, empathy, and powerful questioning. She also explains how mentors and mentees can develop their relationships through empathy, emotional intelligence, and rapport building. Applying theories and features in a practical and understandable way, The Mentor’s Companion is a fundamental development tool for active practitioners seeking to improve their effectiveness as mentors.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786831842
Publisher:	University of Wales Press
Publication date:	08/15/2018
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Rhianon Washington is academic manager of GWLAD/Workforce Development Fellow Wales Institute for Work-based Learning at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

What is Mentoring?

No textbook can be fully functional without first giving the subject some context and clarity of meaning. The present chapter illustrates why doing that may not be so easy, and seeks to explain the nature of mentoring and its somewhat incestuous relationship with allied disciplines. It contains examples of the varied ways mentoring has been applied, and highlights other literature and studies undertaken on generic and specific aspects of mentoring. This synopsis of theories and applications aims to give a better feel for the principles that lie at the heart of mentoring as well as providing a reference source for further reading.

Spontaneous mentoring, so unwittingly prevalent in all aspects of life, is equally apparent in the workplace: the colleague willing to listen; the trusted confidante; and those with values that influence attitudes, whom we seek to emulate. Its influence can be seen in many typically supportive interactions:

• helping or guiding a colleague

• showing a new colleague the ropes

• advising on organisational politics and etiquette

• championing them or acting as an advocate

• acting as a 'sounding board'

Even in these informal contacts, reflecting on efficacy and applying structures, techniques and tools can turn everyday connections into something more powerful and productive.

Inevitably, not everyone has the good fortune to benefit from informal support structures that can act as positive influences on their lives, or is inherently blessed with a drive to be winners or leaders of the pack (in what might mistakenly be viewed as a natural selection process). Establishing a more formal, targeted approach to mentoring opens the way for those who are more reserved or unguided to release their latent potential and to level the playing field. It is in fulfilling this need that mentoring delivers its most rewarding contribution to society. Mentoring is a fluid concept. Daloz (1999: 203) writes engagingly of 'The Yoda Factor' where, so long as the 'Force' is with you, the giving of support and challenge can nurture individuals not only through periods of transformation or planning long-term career pathways, but also in dealing with the routine interactions we all regularly encounter.

In its purest and most recognised form, mentoring is an intentional, nurturing process between two individuals: the mentor and mentee. Through challenge, support and reflection, it seeks to guide and facilitate growth through professional and personal change.

Historically, mentoring was more aligned to sponsorship activities, such as apprenticeships, where an experienced employee would instruct a junior colleague within the structured framework of the apprenticeship. Over time it evolved to include other relationships, for example, between two co-equal professionals as in peer mentoring. The term 'mentoring' has been applied to a variety of specific support structures creating some bewilderment over its precise definition and meaning (explored later in this chapter). There are common features to many, but not all, forms of mentoring – for example, a pastoral intent towards the mentee, illustrating an interest in and contribution to their overall well-being. More demanding methods can also be applied, such as challenging questions, which can cause the mentee some unease but still be laced with benevolent intent.

The generic essence

Daloz (1999) describes the mentoring process as a journey for both mentor and mentee, a journey that should be transformational as the mentee gains knowledge and experience. The change is unique to each individual; what comes quite naturally for one may be challenging or completely overwhelming for others. The mentor can also be influenced, especially if challenged to overcome deep-rooted dogmatism and self-limiting beliefs. The mentor can be perceived both as a guide on this journey and as a bridge between old and new beliefs. The shifting nature of the mentor-mentee relationship is also evident; at the outset, the mentor is viewed as the authority figure, and, if successful, the mentoring process results in a more equitable connection between the two participants, with the mentee occasionally surpassing the mentor's expertise.

Mentoring models are generally facilitative, enabling and non-threatening in tone. Business-based mentoring models, however, can be more aggressive in manner and sometimes even subversive in tone when ambitions and hidden agendas come into play. This raises concerns surrounding the ethical intent and underlying motives of the mentor and mentee. A moral code needs to be applied to both roles, but especially to the mentor who is better placed to exert influence, as the name itself implies. Failure to do so may betray the whole ethos of the mentor as a wise and trusted guide.

Pascarelli (1998: 231–43) cites the 'Mentor's Creed' which represents the quintessential symbol of the mentoring experience:

I am here for you.

I believe in you.

I will not let you fail.

You have the power.

The success of mentoring is hardly a revelation if an individual is guided by a respected colleague adopting such a supportive and enabling tenet. But as a synergetic partnership it is dependent on trust carefully nurtured over a period of time and of mutual benefit to both participants.

The fact that so many people benefit from the service of a mentor through informal or even imperceptible means does not weaken the value of a more formal process. Ensuring efficacy is, however, a greater challenge particularly for the untrained mentor, naïve to the moral implications of their guidance or the benefits of reflective analysis and facilitative advice, thereby creating a higher risk of complications.

'Mentoring means such a lot, because it's very difficult to define' Colley (2003: 12). Mentors can serve as coach, counsellor and role model, encompassing many functions, and the term 'mentor' has been adopted by various professions to represent specific activities, or to alter the perspectives of established roles. There are numerous sub-modalities such as executive mentoring (exclusive to high level professionals), and business or workplace mentoring, both of which adopt generic mentoring and coaching techniques. Mentoring can also take place between equals. In co-mentoring the mentor/ mentee role is interchangeable (as it is in peer mentoring within groups) as it provides mutual support, shares understanding and promotes development, as well as allowing access to useful networks (Johannessen, 2016). Even the basic concept of the mentoring relationship can be turned completely on its head. One company, seeking to inject a better understanding of the workings of the organisation into their managers, innovatively assigned them mentors drawn from junior staff, who – in this instance – were the people in the know (Greengard, 2002).

Some organisations have preferred a tailored system; the National Health Service (NHS), for example, has developed styles of support akin to mentoring (including coaching, clinical supervision and preceptorship) with overlapping elements (such as a focus on career development) and a variety of approaches (goal setting, for example). Mentoring in nursing is actually closer to supervision in style. For example, a supervision record that explores areas for development also agrees targets and the actions necessary to achieve them then formally registers achievements. Although operating independently from the appraisal process, it is, nevertheless, an extension of it. Appraisal identifies an agreed outcome while supervision examines how this outcome is achieved, and forms part of an individual's personal development plan (PDP). The PDP is linked to the requirements prescribed for each job. Preceptorship is structured supervision for newly qualified professionals designed to support them through the transitional process. All these procedures are underpinned by policies and guidelines. Within an organisation the size of the NHS, mentoring can encompass many roles and be aligned to other support mechanisms.

The characteristics required of a successful mentor, as viewed by the mentee, is a patron who cares, supports, envisages and identifies potential, inspires enthusiasm and energy while injecting experience and empathy into the relationship. Megginson, Clutterbuck, Garvey, Stokes and Garrett-Harris (2006) recognise mentoring and co-mentoring as useful learning tools in the continuance of professional development and discuss the logistics for building a relationship. They also assess the desirability of choosing a mentor external to the organisation as an individual's aspirations may extend beyond their current environment. The pros and cons of such external support are explored later in this book. Internally sourced mentors, nevertheless, still deliver significant benefits for an organisation, particularly when assimilated into the appraisal process.

The mentor can facilitate and inspire learning and development. Allowing the mentee to assume responsibility for their own learning is an empowering proposition. In 'Transformational Mentoring', Hay (1995) describes the diverse roles of a mentor as ranging from role model or advocate to simply showing a colleague the ropes. Megginson et al. (2006) separate the mentoring relationship into four roles: performance improvement, development, counselling and knowledge sharing, with the mentee driving the process. The mentor, serving as an inclusive facilitator, guides and empowers their mentee.

Murray (2001) extols the virtues of mentoring and coaching within organisations to resolve skills shortages not satisfied by the standard education system, thereby addressing a variety of needs from functional literacy to leadership skills. Faced with increasing levels of illiterate school leavers, mentoring's mounting relevance has been addressed by the Department for Education and Skills (2007) through measures such as the adjustment of school performance indicators to include basic skills.

Attempts to unequivocally categorise mentoring are therefore perplexing and, some would argue, irrelevant. Bush, Adam and Saunders (1992), for instance, contend that mentoring should avoid any simplistic labelling.

Johnson and Ridley (2008: xi) refer to mentoring as 'dynamic, reciprocal, personal relationships', and identify the outstanding mentor as someone who is 'intentional' about the role. Yet it is difficult to discern a clear, consistent definition of mentoring in general or its interrelationship with coaching, 'a concept derived from mentoring' (Garvey, 2010: 352). This lack of clarity can create misunderstanding or misalignment of mentor and mentee expectations, undesirable factors which are likely to inhibit the relationship.

The mentoring/coaching conundrum

Differences between coaching and mentoring may appear clear-cut when they operate in their purest forms at either end of the coaching/mentoring spectrum. Many practising programmes draw on techniques from both purer forms, and this hybrid approach blurs the distinction, particularly at the midpoint of this spectrum. Wallace and Gravells (2007: 10) postulated whether the length of the relationship could determine definitions, suggesting mentoring relationships were likely to last longer than a coaching attachment. Daloz (1999) supports this view likening the mentoring process to a journey, and, in pursuing the metaphor, implies the need for a map to clarify the path. The mentor, in such a scenario, could be viewed as the cartographer, driving forward and mapping uncharted areas of change.

Coaching implies a more focused, task-based approach solving specific needs or developing skills (Grant, 2003), with the capability to improve short-term performance through well-defined goals and direct feedback. Mentoring encompasses a more holistic, long-term approach (Clutterbuck, 2008), yet the developmental mentor often uses coaching tools. Mentors tend to nurture potential and deliver useful insights to their mentees while enhancing their own professional life in the process. It also aids the retention and development of talent within an organisation. Coaching can refine employee performance, increase productivity and, again, safeguard staff retention. Both mentoring and coaching facilitate and inspire development, enabling the individual to assume responsibility for their own learning. Parsloe and Leedham (2009) provide a useful reference in exploring the potential basic differences to be found between coaching and mentoring with, for example, the focus of learning being short term for coaching and long term for mentoring. Irby (2013) explores mentoring, coaching and tutoring, and concludes that of the three concepts only mentoring covers the other two as a mentor will coach and tutor, but a coach or tutor rarely mentors.

Pegg (1999) analyses the varying roles of a mentor as adviser, teacher, role model, counsellor and leader, and includes coaching as a function of a mentor's role. He portrays a mentor as a trusted, wise and credible guide who helps the individual step back from their life to identify the road best followed, and a coach as one who provides more focused support, encouraging the individual to recognise their strengths and to use them to achieve everyday goals. Harvard Business Essentials (2004: xi) simplistically describes mentoring as, 'guiding others in their personal quests for growth', distinguishing it from coaching which is viewed as, 'an activity through which managers work with subordinates to foster skills development, impart knowledge'. An array of different coaching techniques are available that offer a more customised approach, such as executive coaching, along with the relatively recent innovation, positive psychology, explored more fully later in this chapter.

Coaching and mentoring both encourage reflection through facilitation, even modifying how individuals regard themselves and their potential. This reflective facilitation can identify problems and set goals to address them. This creates a practical design with minimal interference that encourages identification and resolution of problems in a reflective manner and allows an active role in the process to be exploited. The principles of facilitation can similarly be applied to mentoring as the delivery of this help and support stimulates the mentee to manage their own development.

The assimilation of this awareness into organisational policy and strategic direction empowers both individual and business. Using techniques such as cascade coaching and transformational learning can direct and guide a business through times of change or growth.

Organisational mentoring

Employers generally recognise that their most valuable asset is the people that work for them. It is sound business sense, therefore, to make some investment in workforce development in the same way as upgrading new technologies or more efficient machinery to deliver that competitive edge. Mentoring now forms part of many organisational strategies. Formal mentoring can be incorporated within other established processes such as appraisal, although the involvement of the line manager or supervisor can impose upon the motivational dynamics of the outcome and unbalance the relationship. Conflict could arise should the manager invoke their power position, or use information gathered during a confidential mentoring encounter for their own purpose. Conversely, a line manager could perceive a threat to their position or authority from any external support provision. Clutterbuck (2004) explores the dangers of power alignments where a mentee may use the mentoring relationship to undermine their line manager, or where a mentoring network operates outside of company policy or becomes elitist – the antithesis of the ethos to which mentoring aspires. Such conflicts can be avoided provided roles and expectations of all parties are properly clarified.

Successful relationships are mentee/learner driven, but appropriate matching is vital and best mobilised by the organisation itself. In such cases, the mentor's agenda must support the tenet of mentoring: placing the mentee's needs and welfare ahead of the organisation. Weaving mentoring techniques into a job role could prevent negative or unhelpful attitudes between colleagues, whilst amplifying the skills associated with helping each other. Some even argue whether mentoring should be regarded as a distinct activity or be subsumed within another role. Debate over such demarcation is continuous and somewhat enigmatic as many of the skills utilised by a mentor can be found in other roles such as a manager. Generally, however, mentoring is regarded as a specific developmental tool and is best used as such. Therefore, a strong case remains for an independent mentor with no conflicting constraints.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Mentor's Companion"
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Copyright © 2018 Rhianon Washington.
Excerpted by permission of University of Wales Press.
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Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Preface ix

Chapter 1 What is Mentoring? 1

Chapter 2 Mentoring Skills: the Building Blocks 17

Chapter 3 Mentoring Models 37

Chapter 4 Toxic Mentoring 51

Chapter 5 Mentoring Schemes 63

Chapter 6 Distal Mentoring 81

Afterword 105

References 107

Bibliography 115

Index 123

Editorial Reviews

"At last, a critical discussion of mentoring, including a range of models that readers from a wide range of organisations will find relevant and stimulating. Rhianon Washington provides clear and critical insights, including the powerful concept of toxicity and the use of distal approaches to mentoring that help to manage conflict when it occurs. Each chapter in this book concludes with some very helpful tips that readers will find useful when applying theory to practice."

Danny Saunders OBE

"This very useful book emphasises the skills and processes involved in mentoring and highlights aspects not previously covered. The chapters on toxicity and distal mentoring are particularly welcome. A must-read for all mentors."

Elaine Cox