Mentoring is one of the most powerful learning and change interventions our clients use within an organisational setting. Some organisations see it as an activity, which can take place within the line of command; other organisations see it as incompatible with the fundamental openness of the relationship. Similarly, some cultures see the exercise of authority and influence on the part of a protégé as appropriate; others see mentoring as primarily a developmental activity, with the emphasis on empowering and enabling people to do things for themselves. Some people view mentoring as synonymous with coaching, or teaching; others see it as a form of counselling. Certainly others view it as a kind of godfather relationship.
A quarter of the world’s population is now in lockdown. Lis Merrick explores the situation and offers a perspective on what employers can do in this extraordinary chaos. Exploring mentoring through the lens of William Bridges’ Model of Managing Transitions1, she proposes the greatest gift an employer can give at this time is a mentor to support through these incredulous changes in our lives caused by the Covid-19 virus.
Transition mentoring to enable your employees to thrive in a pandemic
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The Coach Mentoring Ltd team has been working virtually for the last 15 years. In fact in 2019 we delivered 90% of our business virtually—this suited both us and our clients. We are now moving to 100% virtual delivery as a result of the Covid-19 virus pandemic. So it’s very much business as usual; we aren’t anticipating any change to the high quality of service our clients enjoy.
After a successful first cohort on the Postgraduate Certificate for Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership in Organisations in 2019, Save the Children has launched another cohort for their Senior Leadership Team. In addition to building up the senior humanitarian leadership behaviours, Save the Children hopes to build up a pool of humanitarian coaches and mentors who are able to:
Join this accredited PGC (postgraduate certificate) open programme this spring to develop your practical skills and gain a qualification as part of your continuing professional development. You will be part of a small group of like-minded individuals looking to become accredited coaches or mentors. Perhaps to develop your coaching and mentoring behaviours as a leader or manager, or to support your professional HR or OD role. Your tutors will blend initial face-to-face contact to establish your study cohort, with the convenience of virtual delivery thereafter.
Some time ago I was delivering a mentoring workshop for some senior managers in a very large financial services business. The training manager was taking part and at the first coffee break he came up to me and said “They say it’s going well, but it’s a bit slow!”. “Thank you for the feedback” I said and when we restarted the workshop, I mentioned “I have had some welcome feedback from your training manager. He tells me that it is going well, but it’s a bit slow!” “Yes, yes” said the managers. “Ok” I replied, “That’s good, but I don’t think it’s slow enough!” 
Are you an entrepreneur seeking to grow your business or a professional advisor seeking to refresh your business strategy and mentoring skills for growth-oriented start-ups? Leeds Beckett University is developing a certification for business mentors across Europe called 
Throughout 2018, 150 staff from across the globe have joined WWF’s mentoring programme, with people from Africa, Asia, Europe, the US and South America. In order to fulfil the demand from mentees, WWF took the innovative step of contacting 20 former employees to use them as Alumni Mentors.
In this engaging and experiential Coaching at Work Masterclass, 
Mentoring takes many different approaches. Walking Mentorship is an approach that harnesses the clarity of mind brought by walking in wonderful locations. In this guest blog, João Perre Viana Founder of Walking Mentorship, talks about what brought him to mentor whilst walking. He shows how to channel the resultant high flow of ideas and creative thinking. 
Lis Merrick shares her thoughts and experiences around key questions in mentoring in this video interview with AYO Mentoring.