The word mentor dates back to 1500 BC, when the King of Ithica, Odysseus was called to fight in the Trojan War. He entrusted his son Telemachus into Mentor’s care while he was away. He considered Mentor would look after his son, see to his education, and guide him through the years to come. From this came the continued use of the word mentor, meaning a person of wisdom, who would have the patience and time to sponsor, guide and instruct a younger or less experienced individual in some or all aspects of life or work.

 

Mentoring is not the same as simply assisting your peers, nor is it the same as coaching. A mentor is someone of a higher level of experience and usually higher level of position who can open the doors within the organisation for a person to access the internal workings, nuances and higher-level information. A mentor is there to guide, share wisdom, explain expected behaviours and sponsor the mentee to further possibilities and opportunities within the organisation. A mentor may be involved in coaching, but coaching usually involves only one area of work, whereas a mentor covers many areas.

 

Today, we generally define a mentor as a wise and trusted adviser. Consultant/author Chip R. Bell expands this definition: “A mentor is simply someone who helps someone else learn something that he or she would have learned less well, more slowly, or not at all if left alone.” Harvard Business Essentials says “and because the business world has no shame in changing perfectly good nouns into verbs, we now have the verb to-mentor - that is, to impart wise and reliable advice, and a mentor is a person who helps someone else experience personal growth through learning. Mentoring, then, is the offering of advice, information, or guidance by a person with useful experience, skills or expertise for another individual’s personal and professional development.

 

To provide a practical framework to enable participants to achieve foundation level mentoring skills.

 

 

Participants will be able to use the knowledge and skills from this workshop and related activities to interact effectively with others, model leadership behaviours and communicate with and build cohesive relationships for achieving planned outcomes.