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  Your Role as Mentor
 
 

The mentor is the foundation upon which an effective mentoring alliance is built. Your major role as a mentor is to assist your protégé in acquiring those skills and competencies necessary to succeed. Specifically, you should:

Assist in the professional growth and development of your protégé
Accept your protégé as a legitimate co-worker who has potential for high performance
Legitimize your protégé with the organization and with other colleagues
Communicate with your protégé in an open and honest manner
Give sound, constructive and critical reviews of your protégé's progress toward established goals, free of judgmental bias
Serve as a resource to your protégé in handling problems that may arise
Be an advocate for your protégé by acting as sponsor
Introduce your protégé to professional/career opportunities and advancement

A word of caution: There is a fine line between SUPPORTING and PUSHING. As a mentor you are an enabler, not an assuror of success.

PAUSE AND REFLECT: Clarifying your role as a mentor:

1. What role does your organization expect you to play as a mentor?

2. What role do you expect to play as a mentor?

3. What role do you think your protégé will expect you to play as a mentor?

4. What are some possible role conflicts and what do you think might be done to resolve these conflicts?

As a mentor, you will help facilitate and foster the development of your protégé through TEACHING, COACHING, COUNSELING, and CHAMPIONING.

You TEACH workplace skills to help your protégé develop technically.
You COACH through comments, support, encouragement and even criticism about attitude, abilities, work habits, talent and behavior.
You COUNSEL by helping your protégé evaluate career options, develop skill building strategies, improve professionally, and identify interests and values.
You CHAMPION your protégé by becoming an advocate, showcasing your protégé's talents and securing resources to advance your protégé professionally.

Effective mentoring means throwing out the "life line" of support that affirms your protégé's status of belonging and potential for success.

In a good mentoring relationship, you, as the senior partner, can be a role model through both your words and your actions. By who you are, you provide a personal window for the protégé on a possible career future. Your ethical, scientific, and professional behavior all leave a strong impression on him or her, as does your attitude toward your work.

Communicate your feelings about your career. Share your frustrations as well as your enthusiasms. When something excites you, tell your protégé why. Communicate the importance of mentoring and your hope that they will some day be mentors themselves. A new employee might see or understand only a part of what you do - probably your scientific or engineering activities. Take the time to raise other topics that you are comfortable in discussing. What is a typical day, week, or weekend like for you? What does it feel like to do what you do? You might want to talk about administrative, entrepreneurial, or civic activities; family obligations or the challenge of a dual-career partnership; and your goal of balancing the professional and personal aspects of life.