We are now hurtling towards Spring, the earth is telling us so, the weather, the flowers, the mornings are easier. The yoga classes have settled down to their more normal levels from the January upsurge. At the end of one of the early morning yoga classes last week, one of the students said, ‘I have to run, I am chasing an overseas client, the competition has quoted for the work I am hoping for.’ Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2019
Matching mentors and mentees — get tough!
There are a number of factors to consider when matching mentors and mentees in a programme. Matching can get complicated at times when stakeholders in the scheme have very clear views of who the mentoring pairs should be. Matching criteria need to be in alignment with the purpose/business objective for the programme. If a senior leader wants to choose their own protégée to mentor, you may need to be tough and reinforce your matching criteria. So make sure you are clear what they are! Continue reading
Benefits of mentoring — evaluation of the evidence
The most comprehensive literature review of the benefits of mentoring that I have ever read was by Dr Bob Garvey and Ruth Garrett in 2005. They used over 100 studies of mentoring evaluations, case studies and research projects to produce their report for the East Mentor’s Forum supported by The East of England Development Agency.
In brief, this is what they found:
Continue reading
Mentor Selection — avoid ego strokers
Don’t choose the Ego Strokers!
So how should you organise mentor selection for your mentoring programme and actually what makes a really great and effective mentor?
These are two critical questions I get asked frequently. Here is the wisdom of over twenty years supporting mentoring programmes. It cuts through some of the mystique and confusion around mentor selection and gives my view of what makes a really great mentor. Continue reading
Abandoning goals in favour of emerging principles
I’ve always been a goal-setter in life, generally successfully or I tend to give up quickly and relegate the goals to the bin of ‘bad ideas’. However, in 2019 I decided to take a different approach to my life in favour of emerging principles and a more mindful route through the year, noticing what is important to me and creating some principles I want to live by instead of setting goals. We are now 10% through 2019 and already I am feeling good about my new approach. Continue reading
Building Rapport in Mentoring – 60 second briefing
It is extremely important to spend time at the beginning of your relationship to build the rapport and trust required to have meaningful and open and honest mentoring discussions. This fast-paced 60 second briefing video gives you the basics you need to consider when building rapport in mentoring. Continue reading
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