By Fredy E. Chavala (King Chavala-Mc)
v What is Mentorship?
v Who is the Mentor?
v Who need a Mentor?
v How Mentorship is been done?
v Why is so important to a Mentor/Mentors?
v What differentiate A Mentor from a Teacher, Coach and Role Model?
v How can we rate the successfulness of a Mentorship?
MENTORSHIP
Is a
personal/close/social developmental/future oriented relationship in which a
more experienced/skilled/certified/trusted/knowledgeable person (Whom we call
<a Mentor>) helps to guide a less experienced or knowledgeable person
(Whom we call <the protégé or mentee>) who aspire and desire to reach
higher levels, and a good mentee always performs above his Mentor’s records!
IN GENERAL; Mentorship is a relationship formed
between a mentor and mentee with the goal of sharing knowledge/wisdom/psychological
support and expertise between the mentor and the mentee. It can be a formal
relationship with written goals and scheduled meeting times or it can as
informal as an occasional chat or email exchange.
MENTORING; is that process of transferring informal
knowledge and experience from a Mentor to a Mentee
A MENTOR; is a person/friend, coach, guide,
tutor, facilitator and trusted advisor who guides a less experienced person by
building trust/capacity/faith/hope/confidence and modelling positive behaviors/right
attitudes and perfect reactions to Realities.
A mentor
might be older or younger than a mentee but what matter is his
experience/contents in a certain area of expertise.
A MENTEE; is a student, protégé, apprentice
and eager learner. Is someone who wants to learn from someone who knows and
seeks their valuable advice in order to grow personally/or professionally.
An effective
mentor understands that his or her role is to be dependable, engaged, authentic
and tuned into the needs of the mentee.
IN SWAHILI
“Kwa
Kiswahili <Mentor> ni <Mshauri> , ingawa Kiingereza kwa tafsiri
hiyohiyo kina maneno kama Counsellor, Advisor, Guider, Consultant n.k, lakini
kimantiki kila neon lina muktadha wake na vivyohivyo Mentorship ni utaratibu au
mpango au kitendo cha kuhamisha ujuzi,mtaji wa kijamii(social capital) na
msaada wa kisaikolojia kusiko rasmi, maana rasmi ni kama shuleni ambako
unajifunza kwa miongozo maalum(syllabus), kutoka kwa mtu mwenye ujuzi/uzoefu
ama taarifa nyingi Zaidi kwenda yule asiyenazo ama mwenye uzoefu kiasi….sawasawa
na eneo la kazi/ujuzi ama kipaji na haya nyanaweza kufanyika kwa umbali au uso
kwa uso, kwa njia za mitandao na inaweza kuwa ni kwa muda mfupi au muda mrefu…hayo
yote yanategemea sana Ukubwa wa tasnia na uhitaji/mahusiano ya hawa wawili na
mazingira/uhalisia”
HOW MENTORSHIP IS BEEN DONE?
Mentoring techniques:
The idea/focus
of mentorship is all about developing a whole person and so techniques are so
broad/variety and thus wisdom is highly required to be applied effectively
Here are
best five common and proved to be effective Mentoring techniques;
i.
Accompanying; making a commitment in a caring way,
this involves taking part in the learning process side-by-side with the learner.
ii.
Sowing; mentors are often confronted with
the difficulty of preparing the learner before s/he is ready to change. Sowing is
necessary when you know that what you say may not be understood or even
accepted to learners at first but will make sense and have value to the mentee
when the situation requires it.
iii.
Catalyzing; when change reaches a critical level
of pressure, learning can escalate. Here the mentor chooses to plunge the
learner right into change, provoking a different way of thinking, a change in
identity or a re-ordering of values.
iv.
Showing; this is making something
understandable or using your own example to demonstrate a skill or activity. You
show what you are talking about, you show by your own behavior.
v.
Harvesting; here the mentor focuses on “picking
the ripe fruit”: it is usually used to create awareness of what was learned by
experience and to draw conclusions. The key questions here are: “What have you
learned?”, “How useful is it?”
N.B; Different techniques may be used by mentors according to the situation
and the mindset of the mentee.
MULTIPLE MENTORS; A new upcoming trend in the world now is having multiple
mentors. This can be helpful because we can all learn from each other. Having more
than one mentor will widen the knowledge of the person being mentored. There are
different mentors who may have different strengths.
TYPES OF MENTORS:
v Profession or Trade Mentor: This is someone who is currently in the trade/profession
you are entering. A mentor like this this will be someone you can discuss ideas
regarding the field and also be introduced to key and important people that you
should know.
v Industry Mentor:
This is someone who doesn’t just focus on the profession, but this mentor will
be able to give insight on the industry as a whole. You will get to know all
key things about the industry.
v Organization Mentor: Politics in the organizations are constantly changing. It is important
to be knowledgeable about the values, strategies, and products that are within
your company…An organization mentor can clarify missions and strategies and give
clarity when needed.
v Work Process Mentor: This mentor can help to get things done quickly and efficiently.
v Technology Mentor: This mentor will help with
technical breakdowns, advice on systems that may work better than what you are currently
using.
THERE ARE CAN BE MAMY
MORE TYPES OF MENTORE, JUST LOOK AROUND AT YOUR WORK PLACE, SCHOOL, LIFE AND
FIND SOMEONE WHOM YOU CAN COMMIT YOURSELF TO LEARN FROM.
TYPES OF MENTORSHIP:
There are two major types
of Mentorship, these are
a. Formal; this referred
to structured package/pattern of a given expertise to be transferred to a
mentee in given specific time schedule.
b. Informal; this
refereeing to transferring of knowledge/expertise occasionally or whenever a
mentor see a need of meeting a mentee, in short here Nature, life reality and
Mentor’s wisdom matters a lot.
Anybody who wants to be the best/Updated/at
the top and maintain such a position in any industry s/he need a mentor or
mentors.
Life is the continuous learning
process, as how you learned to be born and now we see you, and how you will
learn to die and pass the test of getting away, thus in daily life you need to
learn learning and because you won’t get everything from Formal education syllabuses
then you Other life reality teachers and those are whom we call them MENTORS.
There are
different Benefits of Mentoring/Mentorship, this vary from individual capacity
to organization level.
Ø Nurturing people to set new records/standards/Qualities
and news!
Ø Maintaining a certain
capacity/potential/talents/skills in an organization, that is why we need
another one like you in the company, so that when you leave, there will someone
remaining to do what you was doing.
Ø Transferring knowledge/experience/expertise
from one generation to another and it might from older generation to younger
generation which is common or vice versa, which is applicable nowadays and we
call it “Reverse Mentoring”.
Role Model is a person whose behavior, example,
dignity, image, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by
younger people. That is to say other people are aspiring to be like the one who
they admire and is not necessary to have any relationship.
Teacher is a person who is having a
knowledge in a certain area of study and is trained/equipped with special
skills called “Teaching Methodologies” to transfer that knowledge to others. There
are can be a relationship between a teacher and a student but it is just formal
relationship!
Coach is the person who teach/impart and
help in a mode of supervising or working with the student until when a student
is capable of what is supposed to know or to do.
Having say so, A mentor can be Role
Model, though not every role model can be a mentor, hardly the teacher with
added closely relationship, though not every formal teacher can be a mentor and
is a coach though not everybody called Coach can a mentor.
Effectiveness
of Mentorship can be fostered by
a. Smartness of a mentor and Sharpness
of a mentee
b. Willingness of a mentor and
Humbleness of a mentee
c. Proud of a mentor about a mentee and
Eagerness of a mentee and proud of his or her mentor
d. Shareable Visions, Mutual discipline
and Respect, Active consciousness and Seriousness in whatever they are doing
e. Truth, Honest and passion of both of
them in a given realm of learning and life realities
That is just a summary of the knowledge about Mentoring and
Mentorship!
There are lot to learn, find books, browse sites and talk to
people then you will learn more and more!
Appreciations: I have prepared these notes in my
capacity, also with a help of Online Dictionary, Wikipedia, Mentorship sites
and books.
King Chavala-Mc
Twitter @kingchavala
Instagram: Kingchavvah
+255 713 883 797
e-mail; lacs.project@gmail.com
