When I was doing my Public Speaking project at Toastmasters International on leading to becoming a Competent Communicator, I was stuck in a particular project for a very long time. I sat listening to speeches that were not anywhere near the gold standards set by Toastmasters. However, Toastmasters had a very good system of mentoring, wherein one Senior Communicator was assigned to each budding speaker.
My mentor was TM Abraham Thomas, a very senior Communicator and an excellent speaker. One day he asked me to come to his house, gave me some great tips and I received one-to-one training for 3 to 4 hours over several days. At the end of the week, my speech was polished, presentable and i won the appreciation of all present award, this helped me to progress quickly with my speaking thereafter. It was then, that I understood how important it is to not only take a personal interest in mentoring, but also to receive one-on-one training and coaching. The results from one-on-one coaching are truly amazing.
Mentoring relationships are rewarding, not only to the Mentee but also to the Mentor. There is a lot of learning that both individuals undergo during this process. The mentee will obtain the solutions from his own opinion as he expands his frontiers of perceptions and understanding. For the mentor, the training itself is a journey, which opens up their leadership skills.
In ancient India the imparting of spiritual knowledge happened through the tradition of spiritual relationship and mentoring, where teachings were transmitted from a guru “teacher” to the “disciple”. It was a one on one relationship. The disciple used to live with the Guru for about 10 to 12 years and learn by receiving constant mentoring from his Guru.
The mentor should always define the goal for the mentee, show him the path to achieve it and be continuously responsive to the mentee’s need. Hence the roadmap should be flexible adapting to the needs of the mentee and rreflecting on the constraints the mentee is facing.
The best mentor will encourage the mentee to come up with his own ideas and develop on his own rather than imparting the ideas of the mentor.
The mentor should not only share his own experiences and learning, but also share the mistakes and failures he has experienced. By doing this, the mentee is able to realize his own handicaps and the challenges he has to face.
Giving constant and positive feedback is part and parcel of a good mentor’s mentoring. Blatant criticism or negative comments will discourage the mentee from his potential development. By acknowledging the mentee’s achievements or progress, the mentee’s development will not only be faster but also his confidence level will be high, resulting in a positive change.
This approach to brilliant mentoring should be adopted by all companies. It helps shorten the learning curve.
