I recently read an interesting article by Professor David Clutterbuck, Practice Lead, Clutterbuck Associates. It was posted in The OCM Coach and Mentor Journal 2010. Having met him in late 2010, and having some personal experience in the establishment of mentorship programs, I found the article, “Who and what makes mentoring programmes work?” to be both informative and a confirmation of many of those elements that we’ve found to be useful in mentorship programs.
Clutterbuck reaffirms that it is the well-designed, well-managed program that delivers superior results, and I certainly agree. There are several keys to success in launching a great mentorship program. Allow me to add a few comments related to a few things that we believe should be included in the “Beginning” stage of the good mentorship program.
We recommend that an appropriate orientation and training session be provided for both mentors and protégés (mentees). This can really position the program participants for success. Not only does it allow them to more fully understand their various roles, it should also provide a safe environment to familiarize themselves with the basic skills and interpersonal behaviours that can be reasonably anticipated within the forthcoming mentoring relationship.
Why is that so important? As Clutterbuck states, “Typically, where both mentors and mentees have been trained, and line managers briefed, over 90% of relationships deliver significant learning and are valued by participants. By contrast, programmes without training rarely deliver significant value for more than a third of participants.”
In one of our first engagements, Pro-Vision Solutions Inc. facilitated an Orientation Session that introduced the concept of mentorship to members of a business networking group. While the group they were in continued to fill a valid need for the members, this subset was interested in the benefits of participating in a more comprehensive, one to one mentorship program. A few weeks after the Orientation Session, many of these people attended a focussed Training Session providing them with in depth, hands-on experience, similar to that suggested by Clutterbuck. Attendees were free to ask questions prior to entering into the working relationship with their Mentor or Protégé. Reflecting back, the response from attendees to both sessions was overwhelmingly positive. In our opinion, the orientation and training provided on the front end, allowed for a much smoother running program, requiring less intervention on the part of the organization and program manager.
2 comments:
On 01/17/11 7:01 AM, David Clutterbuck wrote:
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... I thought it might be helpful to share my own first experiences of being mentored.
The first was my English teacher at school, an old man called Wilf Tallis. He was remarkably enthusiastic about all sorts of topics -- from history to music and mathematics. And he had a wicked sense of humour. I learned from him how to seek out the interesting in what seems mundane -- how to be incureably curious! -- and how to see the links between apparently disparate topics.
My second was an old journalist, Ian Lowe, who edited a column on the magazine New Scientist. As a recent graduate, I thought I could write. Ian quietly challenged every word I produced, helping me see the difference between simply expressing and idea and expressing it succinctly and elegantly. After six months, he suddenly stopped doing so. I got very concerned, invited him to the pub and asked what was wrong. "Nothing!" he said. "You just don't need me any more." From this experience I learned the importance of "letting the bird fly the nest" as one of the core mentoring skills.
Since then, I have seen everyone I have been a mentor to as a partner in my own learning. I've continued to find new mentors -- for example, I now have a couple fo comedy mentors to help me expand my use of humour in speeches and seminars. And I am grateful to them all!
I think that Mentorship is an essential component to healthy leadership development. Unfortunately too many leaders see leadership learning as a tool for personal advancement as opposed to an opportunity to develop others. The young leaders that I have spoken too are eager for any input they can receive with regards to their field of leadership. Yet many of them find that the people they would consider to be mentor potentials don't seem to have mentorship as a priority in their focus. All of us feel the pressure of time and the way it limits our leadership capacity. However, I find that it is not a matter of capacity, but rather a matter of priority. Subsequently, many leaders struggle with the insecurity of, "What do I have to teach you?" They would rather leave leadership as a surface issue as opposed to connecting it to the heart of who they are. It is the great leaders that have accepted themselves and are willing to put themselves "out there" for others to learn from them.
I think the greater the investment we make into those around us, the greater the return within us!
Kevin Fricker
Lead Pastor of City Centre Church
Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)
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