Group mentoring is a relatively recent innovation. It is typically used in situations, where the demand for mentors outstrips the supply. In a typical group mentoring programme, the mentees might meet on their own once a month, acting as peer mentors and agreeing topics they want to bring collectively for discussion with their mentor. They (more…)
A survey reported in Harvard Business Review asked 106 executives from 17 countries about problem management in their organizations. Overwhelmingly, respondents expressed high confidence in their companies’ ability to solve problems, but low confidence in their ability to understand or even identify the right problem. It seems that managers have a propensity to frame a...
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Most of us have a bias towards optimism or pessimism. Within normal ranges, this is quite healthy, but outside of these, it can be a significant problem in terms of relationships with colleagues, decision-making, and career potential. Of course, some jobs demand an element of pessimism — working in finance or compliance requires a focus...
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Read More What to do when the coachee or mentee is overly optimistic or pessimistic
Sponsors play a special part in the retention and development of talent within organisations and professions. A good sponsor takes an active role in helping individuals grow and be recognised. Their responsibilities include: Sponsorship vs. Mentoring Being a sponsor is not the same as being a mentor—in fact, the two roles can be largely incompatible....
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Various studies have demonstrated conclusively that mentoring and sponsorship are different, largely incompatible relationships. Attempting to combine them leads to reduced impact in terms of both career and personal developmental outcomes for a number of reasons, including: These problems may be exacerbated in the context of gender, where the power dynamics of the relationship may (more…)
A team’s readiness for learning and achieving Having the right environment for learning together is critical for any team. One useful way of looking at this is by using the matrix below. Read the description and consider: The reality of teams is that you have to work hard to maintain both trust and clarity of (more…)
Mentoring relationships “go quiet” for a wide variety of reasons, many of them positive. For example: And that’s where the problem may lie. Both mentor and mentee may feel some anxiety in approaching the other. This anxiety may stem in part from embarrassment that they let the mentoring relationship slip off their radar; and partly...
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Giving feedback is tough for both parties. Most people prefer not to cause others pain, so we tend either not to give them feedback at all, or to soften it. Feedback givers may also be concerned that the feedback receiver will react with aggression. Making it safe for other people to give you feedback is (more…)
Read More How to get others to give you the honest feedback you need
Because mentoring is a learning relationship, it’s important to find the right mentor for your needs, at the right time. The following questions will help you make a good choice. What do I want a mentor for? People want mentors for a variety of reasons. The most common are: A potential mentor will expect you...
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In recent months, there has been a spate of articles and webinars extolling the virtues of “speed mentoring”, “flash mentoring” or similar means of fast knowledge transfer (FKT). We have also seen the rise of “Mentoring Lite” from major dot-com providers, providing rapid matching between people with a problem and an expert. In an era...
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