Rediscovering Mentorship.
"Mentoring is an old practice revealing the inner nature and natural genius of youth, at the same time awakening the ‘inner sage’ in those who mentor....In days gone by, mentoring was linked to rites of passage in which a person becomes more conscious of the unique meaning and purpose of their own life. Initiations had two purposes:--- to introduce young people to the values and responsibilities of their immediate culture, and at a deeper level, to discover who they are, reveal the natural genius in the life of each young person. This "genius to genius" connection serves to renew a culture and preserve the imagination within it." - Michael Meade
I think the modern world could use a Mentoring School where modern elders are taught how to advise and guide those younger than them ( a vital piece of our MEA curriculum). And, of course, it makes the most sense for these schools to be embedded in large companies with the opportunity to consider mentorship as their highest return on investment form of learning & development.
Mentorship is also a great retention tool. Deloitte has shown that younger workers with an in-company mentor are more than twice as likely to stay at least five years compared to those without a mentor. For those of you thinking about investing in your mentorship skills, know that 75% of Millennials say they’d like a mentor, and yet only a tiny fraction say they have one. This gap offers a great opportunity.
I stumbled upon an article chronicling 25 best practice tips for mentorship and will highlight 4 of those tips.
1. Figure out what kind of mentor you are and tailor your advice accordingly. As I’ve written in a blog post, I believe a great mentor can be both a Librarian and a Confidante.
2. Be sure to listen for the subtext. A mentor listens not just “to” the story but “for” the story as a “first-class noticer” of patterns that the mentee might not be seeing.
3. Help your mentee practice checking for blindspots and surveying stakeholders. Mentoring is about opening the aperture to see wider instead of what’s directly in front of your face.
4. “What are you excited about doing in the future, five years from now?” This appreciative inquiry question helps a mentee focus on their trajectory, not just the current problems.
What are some of your top mentoring tips?
