Gibson Brothers
The Mentoring Process
Mentoring is a process whereby 2 or more individuals work together to develop the career and abilities of a single individual. Mentoring can focus on a career or personal context. The next few paragraphs is focused on those aspects that effect career development and success.
As mentioned, mentoring involves an experienced individual that teaches and guides someone with less knowledge in given areas. A mentor may wear numerous hats but the one thing that all mentors share is the capacity to listen and encourage. A mentor is “a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction,” according to the Uncommon Individual Foundation, an institution devoted to mentoring research and training. It reports that mentoring is among the most most robust tools we have for influencing human behavior.
History
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus. In his later years Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus’ foster-brother Eumaeus accountable for his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus’ palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.
When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus’ mother Penelope. As Mentor, the goddess encourages Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and go abroad to find out what happened to his father. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Athena appears briefly in the form of Mentor again at Odysseus’ palace.
Because of Mentor’s and Eumaeus’ near-paternal relationship with Telemachus, the individual name Mentor continues to be adopted in English as a term meaning a father-like teacher.
Definition
1. A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.
2. Mentor Greek Mythology. Odysseus’s trusted counselor, in whose guise Athena became the guardian and teacher of Telemachus.
Kinds of Mentoring
There are basically two kinds of mentoring; the foremost is natural mentoring and the second is deliberate mentoring. Natural mentoring may come from everyday situations wherein anyone can be your mentor. One can learn through collegiality, through friendship, through teaching, or through counseling. Alternatively, arranged mentoring develops from a structured program wherein the mentor and also the mentee are chosen from a list and matched through a formal procedure. Mentoring programs are frequently found in both the non-public and public sectors. Many of these programs possess the goal of employee development and assisting new employees with learning the particular organizational culture. Three approaches are typical: (1) one-to-one matching programs, (2) group mentoring, and (3) training and encouragement toward mentoring. Mentoring is a technique of training and fostering growth.
Benefits & Observations
Mentoring is often a dynamic process, where the roles of the mentor change with the growth and experience of the protege.
Whether natural or arranged there is a dynamic process which occurs between mentors and mentees.
Mentoring is probably the most robust tools we have for influencing human behavior.
Samples of mentoring relationships
Today mentors provide expertise to less experienced people to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build their networks. In many different arenas people have benefited from being part of a mentoring relationship, including:
- Writers – H.P. Lovecraft mentored Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard
- Business owners – Freddie Laker mentored Richard Branson
- People in politics – Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great
- Directors – Roger Corman mentored Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, James Cameron, John Sayles, Donald G. Jackson, Gale Anne Hurd, Carl Colpaert, Monte Hellman, Paul Bartel, George Armitage, Jonathan Kaplan, George Hickenlooper, Curtis Hanson, and Jack Hill. Martin Scorsese mentored Oliver Stone at New York University
- Actors – Laurence Olivier mentored Anthony Hopkins. Martin Landau mentored Jack Nicholson. Mel Gibson mentored Heath Ledger
- Musicians – Johann Christian Bach mentored Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. José Antonio Abreu mentored Gustavo Dudamel. Dr. Dre mentors Eminem. Denniz Pop mentored Max Martin. David Foster mentored Josh Groban
- Athletes – Eddy Merckx (five-time Tour de France winner) mentored Lance Armstrong (seven-time Tour de France winner). Bobby Charlton mentored David Beckham
- Movies – Obi-wan Kenobi mentored Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke Skywalker
- Television – Perry Cox mentored J.D. (Scrubs)
- Video Games – The Boss mentored Naked Snake. The latter’s son, Solid Snake, mentored Raiden. Samos mentored Jak in the stead of his father.
- Poetry – Seamus Heaney mentored Paul Muldoon.
Great Mentoring Quotes
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” Oprah Winfrey
“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” Anonymous
“Mentoring brings us together – across generation, class, and often race – in a manner that forces us to acknowledge our interdependence, to appreciate, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, that ‘we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny.’ In this way, mentoring enables us to participate in the essential but unfinished drama of reinventing community, while reaffirming that there is an important role for each of us in it.” Marc Freedman
“Self-esteem is a huge piece of my work. You have to believe it’s possible and believe in yourself. Because after you’ve decided what you want, you have to believe it’s possible, and possible for you, not just for other people. Then you need to seek out models, mentors, and coaches.” Jack Canfield
“I have had a few great mentors in my professional life. They’ve helped me to open my thoughts to new directions, develop the skill-sets to get me there, and adopt the attitude that sustains me on the journey. I encourage that you consider this tool.” Anonymous
Gibson Brothers WGBGF 2009 06 14 1538 “Ring the Bell” “Jericho” 07:54
