The current trend is for an increase in coaching and mentoring in the workplace.
Coaching and mentoring, whether on an executive level or for overall staff, are increasingly being recognised as important in employee development. It is acknowledged by senior management in many organisations that their company will thrive if they offer some form of coaching and mentoring to their staff.
We are particularly aware at how much this trend for coaching and mentoring has grown in the UK, as this is where most of our clients are based.
We work with companies who automatically assign a mentor to new employees, some who leave it up to the employee to seek out a coach for themselves, some who don’t or won’t see the advantage of having coaches for their people and just about everything in between.
Fortunately, many more companies are giving their people an understanding of the benefits of coaching and mentoring, of which there are many, and more people are training and acquiring qualifications in coaching and mentoring than ever before.
What Coaching and Mentoring Training is available?
People can get a professional qualification in coaching and mentoring, a certificate in coaching and mentoring; there are many courses offering training in coaching development, creative mentoring, career coaching, face to face training, on-line training, workplace mentoring, becoming a coaching and mentoring consultant, building a coaching network, business approaches to coaching and mentoring, distance learning, management mentoring, staff coaching, in house training courses, ‘out’ house training courses. There are basic courses and advanced coaching and mentoring training and qualifications.
The list truly is endless!
It seems as though everyone from business schools to the corner shop is getting on the coaching and mentoring bandwagon.
This isn’t a bad thing.
How do I know what to do?
The only problem is that for someone who has never used a coach or mentor before, it can all be very confusing.
For those who want to train to become a coach or mentor, the choices can seem daunting: ‘Where do I begin?’
For companies who want to initiate a coaching and mentoring programme, they want reassurance of the tangible benefits and return on their investment.
What we aim to do here is to give you a brief overview, understanding and insight into just exactly what coaching and mentoring means, some coaching and mentoring theory and to give our view on what it takes to be a good coach or mentor.
Coaching and Mentoring overview
Is there a difference between Coaching and Mentoring?
We’re going to cop out here and say there probably can’t be a definitive answer to this. The two terms seem to be increasingly linked and are often used interchangeably.
These happen to be our definitions, but we’re sure you’ll find a bunch of others if you look around.
Coaching: we see a business, corporate or executive coach in much the way we see a sports coach. This person sets specific goals and objectives, sees what you need to do to achieve them and works with you on target setting, professional and personal development, expansion of your skills base and offers practical and relevant advice and guidance.
Mentoring: a mentor can almost be seen as a wise, experienced friend or favourite aunt or uncle type person. A mentor leads by example and is a role model. They might be very good at helping you see the big picture and understand the politics of the organisation you work for.
A coach can be a mentor and a mentor can be a coach, or the role can be rolled into one. The key is that whatever term you use, the person being coached or mentored gets unbiased support and guidance.
Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring
When you work with a coach or mentor you will benefit in many ways:
Have a safe place to offload
Develop skills you already have
Learn new skills
Gain insight into yourself and the people you work with
Get unbiased, confidential support
Gain fresh perspectives on your issues
Get advice, suggestions and options
Coaching and Mentoring Theory
We’re probably the wrong company to ask about coaching and mentoring theory. As a matter of fact, we’re not too hot on theory since we believe that you can’t pigeonhole people and impose a template of how coaching and mentoring should look.
On one level, we suppose that you could say that having a counselling skill is a good ‘theoretical’ place to start. The principles that a good counsellor needs to have are equally true for good coaches and mentors:
Maintains confidentiality
Excellent listening and responding skills
Non-judgemental
Objective outlook
Advises rather than tells
Has the ‘mentee’s’ best interests at heart
Coaching and Mentoring Development
Coaching and Mentoring Training
As we said earlier, the list is endless when it comes to ’stuff’ around coaching and mentoring. There are stacks of training courses, programmes, qualifications, certificates and workshops all claiming to provide you with the skills needed to become a coach and/or mentor.
We can’t say which of these is any good. There are some essentials to look for when finding the right training for you.
No promises about outcomes
It shouldn’t cost the earth
It needs to have a high degree of integrity
It should be practical and experiential
You should feel a compatibility with the people running it
You should be given lots of individual suggestions on how to develop yourself as a coach/mentor
Trust your tummy! Meet up before you sign up and ask lots of questions.
An example of someone who’s ‘doing it’
We can, however, give you an insight into one of the people within Impact Factory who is a coach and mentor and the range of skills she has which help her do the job.
Jo Ellen Grzyb, one of the founding partners, has an eclectic background, which we believe is a good place to start when thinking about training to become a coach and mentor.
We say this because the more experience you have, obviously, the more you bring to the job.
Jo Ellen has worked in the business and arts communities in one form or another, and on both sides of the Atlantic, for 30 years. She trained as a psychotherapist and ran career development courses for a number of years before founding Impact Factory with Robin Chandler 14 years ago.
She has had years of personal psychotherapy and has a monthly session with her own supervisor. She has also changed careers a number of times and has real insight into how to ‘take the plunge’ and move one when something isn’t working well.
She writes, appears on radio and telly.
She’s a brilliant networker and isn’t particularly self-deprecating about what she can offer people.
Through all her years of experience, one consistent theme has been her focus on enabling other people to do their work better.
Most importantly, she has never sat around waiting for someone else to make it happen for her – she’s just gone and done it, success or failure being far less important than the doing.
All of that makes her excellent in her role as a coach and mentor.
So what’s the point?
Why we’ve given you that thumbnail sketch is that we get lots of enquiries from people wanting to become coaches and mentors who are looking for someone else to make it happen for them.
That ain’t going to work.
If you want to train as a coach and mentor, you need to take a good, impartial look at yourself to see if you’ve got what it takes.
Remember earlier we said that everyone seems to getting on the coaching and mentoring bandwagon? Well, we feel pretty strongly that a lot of them should get off. Having said that, the profession is open for good, committed people.
You may be one of them.
Using a Coach or Mentor
How do I get one?
As we can see there’s no shortage of people wanting to become coaches and mentors. But what if you want to use one. Where do you begin?
Of course, the best place to look is your workplace. If they already have a corporate coaching and mentoring programme that you aren’t accessing, get yourself to HR ASAP and ask to be assigned one.
You could also look around your company and identify someone you think would make an excellent coach or mentor and ask them if they’d be willing.
Using either a formal or informal approach is equally effective. The key is working with someone you like, admire and with whom you feel comfortable.
Anything else I should be aware of?
There are a few important things that will help you make the most of your coach or mentor.
Meet with them on a regular basis – whether fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, etc
Set clear objectives
Rely on them for guidance, not answers
Be honest
A mentor isn’t a dumping ground
Using a coach or mentor is one of the best ways to develop yourself and is a great way not to have to go it alone.
Watch the video related to mentor
mentori new 2008
Help answer the question about mentor
How do I choose a mentor for my professional life?Im a marketing professional with 2 years of experience. Ive worked with cutting edge technologies and the domain Im handling right now is really new and fresh. However I understand I have the potential to make it and yet want a mentor who can help me groom myself in this industry to work in the right way.
How do i choose a mentor? How does this whole thing happen and work? Please give me suggestions!
About Author
Jo Ellen and Robin run Impact Factory a training company who provide Coaching and Mentoring, Public Speaking, Presentation Skills, Communications Training, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching for Individuals.
haah das sind alles türkische beatz mann
o te rujtzoti 1je o mentor
Who is a professional with only two years of experience? That sounds like anyone could be a pro in that line of work. Start Reading the right books(which are secrets but available and read by anyone) and trying your own thing. Make you mentor someone who you regard as the most successful person you can think of. The right books I am talking about are sometimes referred to as the "success classics"
Hi Spot,
Wow, you're a very creative person. How about volunteering at a local tv station? I volunteered for a local cable company about 3 years ago. Be willing to do ANY type of work – even if you begin by running out to get coffee. While you're there SOAK up as much as you can. Be persistent, show you're strong interest. Go for it!
Best of luck
das lied ist so schönnnnnn shum keng e mirr
:D:D
Edgar Bergen and Mortimer Snerd or the Cisco Kid and Pancho. All kidding aside, how about Donald Trump and Stephen Baldwin.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Mentorr ma kallee shpirtin breeehhhhhhh!!
*Du bist einfach unbeschreïblich * si per tallava si per kong tdhimshme nr 1 je!!
NO Commentt!!!!!!!!!!
Ndasmen teme ki mem knuu tiii duli e artani;)
A mentor wil not let the emotion of love overrule his mentoring skills.While we have heard people say that their spouses or romatic interests were their mentors, what they really meant was that they were role models. Mentoring consists of sensitively observing and conveying the truth to a protege/e about his or her performance, with the intention of improving the person.This is something that a lover may do but very often, this action will not be unbiased. A mentor is expected to give an unbiased view
vertet esht nje keng e mir po vertet per zemrat e shqiptarve per eto qe kan zemer ? per ato?//
mentor shum i qimi nanes je kuku ta gici zemren po mir po kendon hehehehehee
per bukuri,,shum kendue bukurrrrrrrrrrrrrr
shka ki o behinderung
Certainly your acting coach can be your mentor. A mentor advises, a coach teaches you things to use as an actor. It certainly does make sense if your mentor has been or is a professional in your area.
I never had one when I was a teenager. I've learned from what I saw and through experiences. Not necessarily all good ones, but all and all I'd prevailed.
Edit: We are not going to learned unless we discover things on our own, and by committing mistakes. Of course,having an experienced mentor is better as long as you have extra $$$$$ to pay for it. Make sure that your son is also comfortable of having one.
You can find lots of relevant information in a web search for bodybuilding + "mr universe" and you will come across people like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Another useful web search would be one for "bodybuilding techniques".
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I am just like you a beginner in the real estate field. My mentors are very successful. I am a student of the Rich Dad Poor Dad Education system. I am currently taking classes and I have mentors that do exaclty what you need which is help beginners from A-Z execute deals, without taking any of your cash from the deal. Like everything in life the educational program isn't free but the education is priceless and "it really works". You can google it, go to Rich Dad Education and look at the programs offered also, you attend your local reia.com meetings and you may find someone that will assist you.
In your case, the professor is probably both. PI is a technical term that applies to the person who is given the research grant from an agency or is officially in charge of a research project if internal. There can be one PI or several and they do not even have to be at the same institution. A research mentor is a personal term that applies to the person who you feel is the one that mentored you while learning to do research. It depends on the situation.
For example, in a very large group, the PI may be a professor that never enters the lab or never works directly with the staff in the lab. He only writes and reports on grants. They may have several other professors or post-docs that work for them that actually work with students. These later people may be mentors. Who your mentor is can only be decided by you.