A mentor can be an important catalyst for career development. It?s important, therefore, to take the initiative and seek a mentor, either within or outside one?s workplace. Mentoring refers to a developmental relationship between two people where the more experienced person, or the mentor, acts as a teacher, coach and guide to the prot?g? or mentee, who is seeking to move ahead in education, career or life in general. The word ?mentor? originates in the Greek poet Homer?s epic Odyssey, where Odysseus appoints his trusted lieutenant, Mentor, as a guardian to his son, Telemachus, when he goes to fight the Trojan War. The word mentor has since found its way into the English lexicon, referring to a person who acts as a sounding board, sharing insights, giving advice and offering a different perspective.
The concept of mentoring has gained popularity in the corporate world as a cornerstone of the people development strategy, as all stakeholders stand to benefit from a successful mentoring programme. The organisation, which is also the programme sponsor, leverages the experience of the senior people who act as culture carriers and help shape the careers of the more junior population, thus impacting retention and motivation. The mentee gets an opportunity to interact with a senior person outside his direct reporting line, to grow his network, bounce off ideas and get advice, while the mentor gets to sharpen his people development skills.
A mentoring programme is typically initiated by the HR department that matches mentors with mentees based on a variety of parameters like level, experience, location and the goal of the mentee. The mentee has the onus of driving the relationship in terms of articulating a concrete agenda and setting up meetings, while the HR checks out the programme health at pre-decided milestones. It?s important to remember, however, that not all mentoring relationships are initiated as a result of a formal programme, and that a number of associations are formed and brought to fruition informally, as a result of individual need and enterprise.
The benefits emanating to a mentee from a well-functioning mentoring relationship are stupendous. It is an established fact that the right network and sponsorship can be crucial catalysts for catapulting a person to the next rung of his career, and mentoring provides the mentee one such opportunity to expand his network. The mentor can not only provide advice and insight to help the mentee make important career decisions, he can also be a sounding board for addressing interpersonal issues with team members, managers and other important stakeholders. The mentee can benefit from the mentor?s perspective on identifying important stakeholders and ways to influence decision makers. The mentor can also provide feedback and help the mentee evaluate his performance at important meetings, talks and presentations. The mentor is likely to have a better understanding of the nuances of the organisation culture, by virtue of his broader experience. When this is shared with the mentee, he stands to learn and benefit greatly from this. Another thought around mentoring is that the mentee need not to restrict himself to a single mentor. He can instead benefit from associating with multiple mentors, formally and informally, leveraging each for some special skill, knowledge or perspective that he brings to the table. In a study by DiversityInc from their survey of mentoring programmes in 352 companies, a mentee was quoted thus: ?Before I began my mentoring relationship, I had only a vague idea of where I wanted to go professionally. My mentor has been instrumental in helping me to concentrate on my chosen career while discovering a role that would complement my skill set and qualifications.?
The success of a mentoring programme hinges on the strength of the sponsorship, effectiveness of the matches and the extent to which the mentor and the mentee understand the programme. Both the mentor and the mentee are likely to explore the programme and give their best shot, if it is positioned not just as an HR initiative, but one that has a strong sponsorship from the management. Many a mentoring relationship has gone awry on account of a mismatch in terms of levels and functional areas, and just the lack of chemistry between the mentor and the mentee. A junior mentee matched with a very senior mentor may be uncomfortable opening up and interacting with the mentor. Similarly, a scenario where the mentee is looking for advice in his functional area, and the mentor is far removed from it, may pose a hurdle. Another challenge to mentoring emerges when the mentor and mentee are separated by local, regional or global geographies, and have little or no opportunity for face-to-face meetings. At times the relationship doesn?t take off as the mentor and the mentee plunge into it with inadequate understanding of the programme and knowledge about how to proceed and turn it into a mutually fruitful relationship. At times, time plays truant as the mentor gets busy managing his own career. The mentee, too, may face similar challenges of work pressure. Such ?important and not urgent? activities, ? la quadrant two of Steven Covey?s time management matrix, are often a neglected lot, as people seldom make time for ?sharpening the saw?. None of these impediments are insurmountable if the stakeholders have a strong will to make it work.
Overall, how successful have mentoring programmes been? The question is hard to answer, because of the lack of established criteria for its success. It would, however, not be unreasonable to infer that the answer tends towards success, as mentoring continues to thrive and organisations have not jettisoned it along the way. The ethos of mentoring is aptly summed up by John Crosby in his famous quote: ?Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.?
The author is Vice-President, Learning & Development, with a leading investment bank. These are her personal views