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Mentor Information

Mentoring is a personal development and empowerment tool.

The Mentoring Program part of Shared Leadership facilitates connecting a less-experienced person, the mentee, with a more experienced or knowledgeable person, the mentor, in the managerial level or field desired.  This partnership can form a relationship based upon mutual trust and respect.

Mentors are guides who can help the mentees develop goals toward their career path or work on solutions to their stumbling blocks.  Mentors past experiences help them empathize with the mentee and understand the issues they face.

Mentoring provides the mentee with an opportunity to think about their career goals and how to achieve them.  It is an effective way of helping a mentee progress in his or her career.

How Does it Work?

  1. Each mentee will identify his/her own strengths, opportunities, skill development needs, and career expectations and objectives.
    1. A Mentee Survey form to help with this process will be sent through email
    2. Think about what you want to achieve.  Some people want to see how an executive conducts a staff meeting, others want to understand what the day in the life of a manager entails.
  2. Determine which type of mentoring would be the most beneficial.  All job shadowing and mentoring activity are subject to availability (yours and your mentor’s).
    1. Job Shadowing:  Some mentors may prefer to have you job shadow, follow in their footsteps for a day, due to their complicated schedules. You will get to see a leader in action.
    2. Individual Development
    3. Career Planning:
  3. Mentees will then identify three potential mentors with whom they would be interested in partnering with. If there is a potential mentor you would like to work with who is not listed, please feel free to let us know and we will contact any new potential mentors regarding their availability.
  4. The Mentoring Program Committee will review each participant’s mentor selections.
  5. Once the list of active mentors is finalized, the Mentoring Program Committee will pair mentors and mentees based on need, availability, and preferences.
  6. By late September, mentees will learn which of their chosen mentors will join them in a Shared Leadership mentoring partnership.  An email will be sent to mentors and mentees.  Mentors will receive mentees bios as an initial introduction.
  7. As with almost everything else in life you will get out of this experience what you put into it.    Mentoring involves time in addition to the monthly Shared Leadership group sessions.  There is not one set schedule; the amount of time depends on decisions you make with your mentor.  In the past some have met once per month for an hour over the five months, others met on occasion for a few hours,  still others have gotten together for one day-long event.  The time commitment all depends on how you and your mentor plan to work together.

 Growing Your Mentoring Partnership

  1. Mentees contact their mentor directly to invite them to the Meet and Greet segment of the October Shared Leadership session.
    1. Before the Meet and Greet, mentees will benefit from thinking about and documenting their individual development or career plans.
    2. During the Meet and Greet, partners will initialize the relationship.  They may plan when and how often to meet and get started on setting  goals and objectives.  This initial meeting will be a jumping off point for the steps listed below.
  2. As you meet through the year, get to know your mentor
    1. You might want to ask them about their history, current situation, and goals.
    2. Some mentees find it helpful to have prepared a short list of questions before meeting.
  3. State your own goals and ask the questions you have prepared.  Take notes!
  4. Conclude each meeting by setting an expectation for the next time.  For example, you could plan to focus on the next item on your list or plan to go further in depth on a topic addressed that day.
  5. Send a thank-you note or email, and include the next meeting if applicable.
  6. Review your notes and list other questions that occur.
  7. Take action on the mentor’s suggestions.  Make notes on the results of those actions so that you can discuss it at your next meeting.
  8. Keep in mind that while a mentoring relationship generally lasts more than just one or two meetings, neither of you is bound to continue an unproductive relationship.  You should pursue a mentoring relationship that serves both of you.
  9. At the end of your first year of Shared Leadership, mentees can invite their mentor to the year-end wrap-up lunch where they will have an opportunity to introduce their mentor and share their experiences if desired.
  10. At the April Shared Leadership group session, we will ask you to identify the top three things you learned in your mentoring experience. If you enjoyed a particularly memorable moment with your mentor, you might also want to share that as well.
    1. The mentoring Program Committee will compile these great take-aways from the year’s experience and use them as part of the presentation during the Shared Leadership Celebration meeting in April of each year.
    2. They may also be shared in future Shared Leadership Mentoring Program descriptions.

In conclusion, the Shared Leadership Mentoring Program is an individual leadership development opportunity for participants in the Shared Leadership class.  By observing leadership skills in action you may gain useful insight,  professional support, and personal inspiration allowing you to make a significant contribution to the campus community and your department.

Tips/Ideas for those who are still not convinced that this is a wonderful opportunity or are just plain shy:

Goal / Objective Suggestions

  • Determine how you/your department fit into this large complicated organization and how BSU functions in your area or another.
  • Research career paths/options
  • What are one or two professional development areas that can improve with coaching?
  • Is there a skill knowledge, competency or behavioral area that would benefit from further development?

Suggested Discussion Topics

  • Share educational background and work history.
  • Discuss your current work.
  • Review long term goals.
  • Discuss successful strategies related to achieving desired goals.
  • Chat about what is important to employers/industry in your field of choice.
  • Discuss networking strategies and opportunities.

Job Shadowing Activities

  • Request the opportunity to attend a team meeting or shadow your mentor for a day.
  • Discuss your observations from the job shadowing experience.
  • Discuss similarities and differences between what you observed and your own “corporate culture.”
  • Discuss key factors that contributed to success of observed activities.