1. Mentoring And Protégé

2. WHAT IS MENTORING?
A developmental relationship that partners an experienced person (mentor) with a less experienced person (protégé)
Sharing knowledge and insights learned through years of experience, the mentor offers the protégé insight and guidance to do their job more effectively or to progress in their career.
History tells us the word comes from Greek Mythology - Mentor was a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and his palace. This is the source of the modern use of the word mentor: a trusted friend, counselor or teacher, usually a more experienced person. We think of a mentor as someone who oversees the career and development of another person.
Mentors not only share knowledge and experience, they also provide tangible proof of leadership.
Offer to mentor someone else who could benefit from your wisdom; this will help you build your leadership experience and demonstrate your initiative.

3. WHAT CAN MENTORING PROVIDE?
Mentoring can create partnerships for
Personal growth
Professional development
Transfer of knowledge and expertise
Mentoring increases the value of both the mentor and protégé to the company.
In 2006 Fortune senior writer Ann Fisher reported that Sun Microsystems had compared the careers of approximately 1000 employees over a 5 year period. Turns out that both mentors and mentees were 20% more likely to get a raise than people who did not participate in the mentoring program.
Employees who were mentored were promoted 5 times more often than those who were not mentored.

4. Mentoring….. Mentor…. Desires to share “life experiences”
An open vista of new experiences and possibilities…
Mentor….
Desires to share “life experiences”
Supports the needs and aspirations of a protégé
Encourages the protégé to accept challenges and overcome difficulties
Willing to spend time with the protégé
Positive role model
Protégé represents…
The future of an organization
The insurance that a well-trained, high-quality workforce will be ready to meet long-term organizational needs
A wide range of individuals in terms of age and work experience
An open vista of new experiences and possibilities. A mentor facilitates personal and professional growth in an individual by sharing the knowledge and insights that have been learned through the years. The desire to want to share these "life experiences" is characteristic of a successful mentor. A successful mentor is also characterized as:
Supportive: A mentor is one who supports the needs and aspirations of a protégé. This supportive attitude is critical to the successful development of the protégé. A mentor must encourage the protégé to accept challenges and overcome difficulties.
Patient: A mentor is patient and willing to spend time with the protégé. Both the mentor and protégé define time requirements.
Respected: A mentor is someone who has earned the respect of peers, the Navy, and/or community. It is important that this person be a positive role model.
A protégé, as a bright and motivated individual, is the future of an organization; the insurance that a well-trained, high-quality workforce will be ready to meet long-term organizational needs. Protégés represent a wide range of individuals in terms of age and work experience.

5. Five Essentials To Successful Mentoring
Respect
Trust
Partnership Building
Realistic Expectations
and Self Perception
Time
It’s about Relationship
Five elements are essential to a successful mentoring relationship:
Respect: This is established when the protégé recognizes the knowledge,
skills, and abilities of the mentor and when the mentor appreciates the success
the protégé has reached to date and the protégé.s desire to develop to their full
potential.
Trust: Mentors and protégés should build trust through communicating and
being available to each other, reliable, and loyal.
Partnership Building: The mentor and protégé are professional partners.
Barriers that partnerships face may include miscommunication, an uncertainty of
each other.s expectations, and perceptions of other people. In order to overcome
these barriers, they should work together to maintain communication, address
and fix obvious problems as they occur, examine how decisions might affect
goals, and have frequent discussions on progress.
Realistic Expectations and Self Perception: A mentor encourages the
protégé to have realistic expectations of the protégé.s capabilities, the amount of
time and energy the mentor can commit to the relationship, and what the protégé
must do to earn their support for his/her career development. The mentor gives
honest feedback when discussing the protégé.s traits, abilities, talents, beliefs,
and roles. A MENTOR MUST ALSO BE ABLE TO REALLY LISTEN – RESIST THE URGE TO RESOLVE ISSUES AND DISPENSE WISDOM.
Time: Set aside the time to meet, even by or telephone. Don.t change
times unless absolutely necessary. Control interruptions. Frequently "check in"
with each other via informal telephone calls. PROTÉGÉ’S WILL CALL AT THE LEAST CONVENIENT TIME SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION TO BE A MENTOR.
I WOULD ALSO ADD THAT TO BE “EFFECTIVE” IN TODAY’S WORLD, MENTORS SHOULD MAKE SURE THEY KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN OUR ORGANIZATION – UNDERSTAND THE ORGANIZATION’S GOALS AND THE SYSTEMS IN WHICH WE WORK.

6. Attributes of the Relationship
The Mentoring relationship is a personal one
You must be comfortable with this person
You must be honest with this person
You must trust this person
You must be willing to let this person see you at your best and at your worst.
Protégé and Mentor need to be committed to developing the relationship
You need to meet with your Mentor on a regular basis
You need to keep him/her aware of what is going on
Recommend that you not go more than 3 months without contacting your Mentor
It’s all about relationship

7. Protégé
Shape the overall agenda for the relationship – know what you want!
Establish realistic and attainable expectations.
Be open in communicating with your mentor.
Don’t expect your mentor to know everything.
Solicit feedback from your mentor.
Come prepared each meeting to discuss issues.
Be willing to invest 2-3 hours a month on the relationship
Be prepared to take advantage of exposure and visibility provided by your Mentor
You must be willing to end the relationship when it no longer works for you.

8. Mentoring and Protégé
Identify roles the mentor can play to help the protégé achieve goals.
Develop an action plan to achieve goals.
Determine level of structure in the relationship.
Communicate on a regular basis.
Set milestones to monitor success.
Set the agenda for each meeting.
Schedule formal meetings and cancel only when absolutely necessary.
Establish guidelines for telephone calls; i.e., calls at home are or aren’t acceptable.

9. Finding A Mentor That’s Right For You
Look for someone who has knowledge and business experience in areas you don’t.
Make sure the mentor you choose desires to be a mentor. A mentoring relationship requires consent by both parties.
Look for what you can offer the mentor – make the relationship mutually beneficial.
Consider important “Matching variables” such as personality, communication style, personal values and career interests

10. Protégé Styles
Protégés will likely have one of 3 types of relationship styles:
Secure
more than likely to be trusting and comfortable; pursue mentorship more than other groups.
Avoidant
do not easily trust others and generally spurn close relationships…..difficult to bond with mentor.
Preoccupied
respond with ambivalence to mentoring….unsure about whether they can rely on others to come through for them…..enjoy mentoring and guidance they receive.
Mentors must reflect on these relational styles, adjust their expectations, and approach mentoring accordingly

11. Checklist : Are You Ready For A Mentor?
Rank yourself from 1 to 3 on the following issues.
1=Uncertain 3=Very Certain
I know the kind of mentor I want.
I’m willing to accept a mentor’s help if it is appropriate.
I’m a good listener. I hear what the other person is saying.
I’m a good follower.
I can be counted on to carry out commitments.
I learn most things fast.
I’d be willing to speak up (diplomatically) if I disagree with a mentor.
I’m good at thanking and showing appreciation to people who help me.
I feel that my “entrepreneurship potential” is high and I’d be a good risk as a protégé.

12. FOR THE PROTÉGÉ - MENTORING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
A Mentor Can…
Help you determine if your goals are achievable
Help you find alternatives
Help to open doors for you
Help you feel more comfortable with the environment and NAVY culture
Discussing Your Goals With Your Mentor…
Is easier when you clearly document them
Is more meaningful and constructive when your mentor can see both your goals and your developmental plan
Helps you to think through your goals and your plan
Proteges must possess a willingness to actively work with and to learn from the experience and wisdom of the mentor.
Protégé’s must also be willing to :
work with the mentor to develop a mentoring plan
Follow-up
Do the things agreed to in the plan
Review and make changes to the plan as necessary
THIS SLIDE FROM THE IMENTORING TRAINING DOES A NICE JOB OF WALKING YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS – REMEMBER THE DECISION TO BE A MENTOR OR A PROTÉGÉ IS YOURS ALONE – THIS IS A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM. HOWEVER, I HOPE I’VE HELPED YOU TO A CLEARER VISION OF HOW MENTORING CAN PLAY A VITAL PART IN YOUR CAREER DEVELOPMENT – AND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOMEONE ELSE’S CAREER AS WELL.

13. Summary Your Personal Development is Your Responsibility
Being a good Protégé takes effort
Opportunities exist for you, you just need to find them and be prepared to take advantage of them
As soon as you find your Mentor, you need to find a Protégé.

14. Quotes
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”
“Successful people turn everyone who can help them into sometime mentors.”
John Crosby
“Mentoring is all about people…..it’s about caring, it’s about relationships and sensitivity. As it becomes increasingly in vogue it is becoming too formulated….. concerned with performance metrics, critical success factors, investment and spending. It will be a disaster.”
Rene Carayol

15. Backup

16. MENTORING BENEFITS
For the mentor
Sharpen management, leadership, and interpersonal skills
Expand professional network
Personal satisfaction
For the protégé
Learning and professional growth
Assistance with career planning
Expanded professional network
Mentors and Proteges should expect to spend about 2-3 hours a month on the relationship
A successful mentoring program benefits your organization by:
Enhancing strategic business initiatives
Encouraging retention
Reducing turnover costs
Improving productivity
Knowledge transfer - retaining practical experience and wisdom gained from long-term employees
Enhancing professional development
Linking employees with valuable knowledge and information to other employees in need of such information
Creating a mentoring culture, which continuously promotes individual employee growth and development

17. Myths About the Mentor/Protégé Relationship
Mentors are going out of style.
It is best if mentors are older than protégés.
Mentor/protégé relationships need to be close and last a long time.
The relationship benefits the protégé more than the mentor.
A person cannot have more than one mentor or protégé. At a time.
Healthy mentor/protégé relationships won’t run into difficulties.
Mentors are the easy way of getting ahead.

18. Origins of the Term “Mentor” (One Version)
In Ancient Africa, prior to the time of the Greek and Roman invasions, when a child was born, each village shared the responsibility for raising and educating the child into the customs and traditions associated with that village. This practice continues today and has become the rallying mantra: “It takes a village to raise a child.” But a more detailed examination of this ancient practice revealed that while the child had contact with every member of the village, there was always one older child (not a family member) who would be assigned the responsibility to ask questions and listen carefully to the younger child. In Swahili (one of the oldest languages on our planet), this questioning person was called “Habari gani menta” which, in English means, the person who asks “What’s happening?”

19. Formal or Informal Mentor?
Informal Mentoring is the most common form of mentoring and can be done by a supervisor, family member or co-worker.
Viewed as spontaneous, exclusive and reliant upon the “chemistry” between mentor and protégé.
Formal Mentoring is accomplished by a deliberate pairing of protégé and mentor in order to develop specific skills and competencies
Save informal mentoring for those you are “familiar” with and leverage formal mentoring to gain access to those you are less familiar with.

20. A Mentor….. Knows enough to help you through challenging times
Sees your potential- sometimes before you see it yourself
Asks you questions about “What’s happening?”

21. Attributes of the Relationship
You both need to be committed to developing the relationship
You need to meet with your Mentor on a regular basis
You need to keep him/her aware of what is going on
Recommend that you not go more than 3 months without contacting your Mentor

22. Attributes of the Relationship
You must be willing to end the relationship when it no longer works for you.
It is okay to change mentors
It is not easy, but it can be done tactfully

23. Roles that Mentors Play
Trusted Counselor
Teacher or Tutor
Coach
Motivator
Sponsor
Referral Agent
Role Model
Sometimes You Need More Than One

24. Your Personal Network
Your Personal network can be an extension of your Mentor relationship
Your Mentor should play a vital role in helping you develop your Network (Referral Agent)

25. How Do I Build This Network?
Maintain a great reputation!!!
Your good work (and a little effort) will make room for you.
Volunteer for Corporate Projects
Get exposure
Take advantage of ALL opportunities…..Introduce Yourself
Get introductions from your Mentor, Supervisor and Friends.

26. Mentor Roles and Responsibilities
Provide guidance based on past business experiences.
Create a positive counseling relationship and climate of open communication.
Help protégé identify problems and solutions.
Lead protégé through problem solving processes.
Offer constructive criticism in a supportive way.
Share stories and mistakes.
Assign “homework” if applicable.
Refer protégé to other business associates.
Be honest about business expertise.
Solicit feedback from protégé.
Come prepared to each meeting to discuss issues.