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If the volume of information on mentoring is anything to go by, then E.O. Wilson’s epigram, “We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom” may well capture the predicament some practitioners may face. A simple web search for ‘mentoring’ yields an eye watering 85 million results; an online book retailer can offer almost 18.8 thousand options. Why all the fuss?
A quick rummage through the history books and a quicker perusal of Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ tells us that Mentor, in his old age, was a trusted
friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus leaves to fight in the Trojan wars, he leaves Mentor in charge of everything and especially his son Telemachus, to whom Mentor acts as a teacher, counsellor, advisor and guide. Later, the goddess Athena will take the form of Mentor and guide Telemachus in his quest to find his lost father. Whether it is Mentor or Athena who is the actual mentor is open for debate. I invite you to read Homer’s Odyssey and decide for yourself.
Mythology aside, the term mentor has evolved to represent the principles of someone who assists in someone’s personal growth and ability. According to Dictionary.com, a mentor is defined as ‘a wise and trusted counsellor or teacher; an influential senior sponsor or supporter’. It’s worth wondering what we would call mentoring if Odysseus’s trusted friend was called Bob, Sharon or Ali.
Although there is much written on the topic, all with various definitions, there are critics, such as Merriam (1983), Gulam and Zulfiqar, (1998), Piper and Piper, (2000), who argue that mentoring is not clearly conceptualised, tends to be programmatic or anecdotal and lacks any real critique. Ehrich (1999) notes, mentoring can be very beneficial or very destructive and is not a panacea for all [organisational] issues. The same can be said for other terms such as coaching or talent management. I will long argue about definitions and semantics, usually along the lines of ‘why do we need another definition?’ Personally, I would rather see more detail regarding the outcomes; balanced between the positive and the negative; a more realistic analysis.
My experience of mentoring lies on both sides of the metaphoric table. Throughout my career I have acted as a mentor to aspiring managers, leaders, trainers, assessors, coaches and consultants, to name but a few. Equally I have been mentored in most of these disciplines plus psychometric analysis and business development. I still am and I still do. I enjoy both in equal measure. Mind you I have had some bad experiences too, on both sides of the metaphoric table. It’s all a learning experience, provided that we can learn from our experiences.
One of the things that I have learned most of all is the importance of contracting at the beginning of any engagement. This not only outlines what the mentor, mentee and/or organisation can expect in terms of behaviours and outcomes, but also addresses the relationship that will exist and the inferences of the psychological contract. Furthermore, it acts as a safety net for anything that needs to be changed, such as frequency of meetings, outcomes, objectives or duration as well as any breach in expected/acceptable behaviour.
I’m a bit of a fan of ‘The Apprentice’ which has just started another season. At the outset, Lord Sugar tells the candidates that one in four entrepreneurs will fail in the first 24 months of trading. He follows this up by stating that none of the five businesses (winners of previous series) that he is mentoring have failed! Mind you, he has invested £250 thousand in each one of them, so failure is probably not an option in his eyes.
Nevertheless, mentoring is working for these businesses. It would therefore appear that mentoring works best when it is the right mentor with the right mentee in the right situation at the right time focussing on the right topic in the right way. It goes way beyond the basics. The skills, experience and ability of the mentor and mentee; the attitude of the mentor and mentee plus their approach to the mentoring relationship are all important are important, yes. But there is so much more to consider to make it effective.
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