A mentor is someone in the organization who is usually more experienced and in a higher level position who sponsors or supports another employee.

A mentor is someone in the organization who is usually more experienced and in a higher level position who sponsors or supports another employee. (You may hear this employee (who is mentored) referred to as a “protégé.”)

A mentor can teach, guide, and encourage. Some organizations have formal mentoring programs. For example, new employees are often assigned a mentor who works with them for several weeks or months. Even if your organization does not have such a formal program, you may be called upon to mentor other people or even to be mentored. Developing mentoring skills is important for any manager. There are four important steps in the mentoring process:

1. Communicate honestly and openly with your protégé.
2. Encourage honest and open communication from your protégé.
3. Treat the relationship with the protégé as a learning opportunity.
4. Take the time to get to know your protégé.

As a brainstorming session, let’s first put together a list of characteristics you would look for in a mentor. For example, perhaps you would look for thorough knowledge of the processes or skills to be taught.

• Assume you are the mentor. What characteristics would you look for in a protégé?
• Next, consider what skill or skills you think you could teach to a protégé.
• Consider how you have helped someone learn to perform a task, skill, or understand complex material. It may have been a fellow student, your child, or co-worker. Describe two ways that you were able to get the information across to your fellow student/child/coworker?
• Did your protégé ask questions that you could not immediately answer? How do you think you might have improved the experience?
• What could you do to prepare as a mentor? What did you learn from this mentoring experience? How might you have improved your own learning opportunity?
• Provide two or more tips for being a good mentor. Use the ECPI Online Library or a credible Internet resource to research these tips. Please be sure to cite your article or website using APA format, and include a working URL so that we can take your link to your site.
• When you reply to your classmates’ mentoring summaries, compare their summaries with your own. Consider how the experience could be improved. What suggestions might you offer?
• Please remember to insert a meaningful and relevant subject bar to give us an idea as to the content of your post and to capture our interest.