MENTOR - NOT A TEACHER, BUT AN AWAKENER !

'Seek' Rather Than 'Tell'

The modern usage of mentor – trusted friend, counsellor or teacher – first appeared in François Fénelon’s Les Aventures de Telemaque in 1699, Wikipedia (2009).  Dictionary.com has a similar definition for a mentor, “Wise and trusted counsellor or teacher, an influential senior sponsor or supporter.”  And Wikipedia notes that “Mentors provide their expertise to less-experienced individuals to help them advance their careers, enhance their education.”

Today the word mentoring with respect to the corporate world could mean anything from performance monitoring to life counseling and everything in between, with little standard process or measurement. The role of a mentor is to catalyze skills, talents or behaviors in a person to help him/her be more effective on the job. It contributes to business productivity by enhancing engagement and efficacy for the person being mentored  as well as for the team/peers of the mentee.  

An important prerequisite in mentoring is the the presence of chemistry between the mentor and the mentee to build the required trust. The mentee must volunteer and see the benefits of having a mentor. Further, a good mentor does not give a set prescription but helps the mentee write his/her own prescription and helps the mentee evolve as a better person. Executive mentoring has resulted in a profound transformational experience in senior leaders which, in turn, has contributed to organizational effectiveness. An important aspect of professional success involves participating in mentoring programs. And now more than ever, during these challenging economic times, employees need mentors to guide and advise them as they navigate flattened corporate structures.

Mentoring really helps and is not a fad. Mentoring should be mandatory whenever an individual requires support. Whether it is a leadership role or customer service clerk, we should honor the new person entering the job by providing a mentor for them. By providing them with a mentor, we are setting up the new person for success versus failure.

There are four types of mentoring situations, which could take place at the workplace: 

1. Advice: Here, the manager simply gives advice to his/her employees whenever the employee requires it; 
2. Role/job transition: The person leaving (the mentor) hires someone to replace him/her and the new person (the mentee) ‘shadows' the mentor for a period of time in order to ‘learn the ropes' of his/her new job;
3. Outside help: In this situation, an outside consultant is called in to mentor the new person in their new role;
4. Assistance: There could be a new employee who needs support to learn the job quickly or an existing one who is valuable to the organisation but needs grooming.

BALANCE IS THE KEY.... !!

“Happiness Is Not A Matter Of Intensity But Of Balance, Order, Rhythm And Harmony.” ~ Thomas Merton

One of the crucial areas of balance is work-life balance - the balance between a career, with its satisfaction of creativity and financial reward, and family life with its reward of love and service. Today, work is widely viewed as a source of personal satisfaction. A good balance in work and life can play a phenomenal role in the attainment of personal and professional goals.

Ryana Malhotra has a husband, three kids and a public relations business in New Delhi. Her hectic life speaks volumes about what time management means to her. As she puts it: "I'm running all the time." In the 3G fast-paced life, there are many pressures that new-age couples have to deal with - running a home, managing daily chores like cooking/cleaning, raising children and handling the tough deadlines at work! Originally, work was a matter of necessity and survival. Throughout the years, the role of ‘work' has evolved and the composition of the workforce has changed.

Today, work is widely viewed as a source of personal satisfaction. A good balance in work and life can play a phenomenal role in the attainment of personal and professional goals.

There are five principles you can use to get more done in less time and get back to a healthy balance between time spent at work and home:

• Set specific goals: Set them with actions and incremental milestones that you can track. Define your goals in terms that create a vivid mental picture of your desired end-state;
• Focus on what's important: Don't let the urgent, the convenient and the immediate distract you from the important. Stay focused on reaching the milestones that support your goals;
• Be proactive: Create the habit of working intentionally. Minimise your distractions. Make a ‘not to-do' list and adhere to it;
• Set your own standards: Don't mindlessly follow social and cultural norms. Instead, follow your own values. Establish your own principles of operations;
• Delegate: Outsource activities that others can do as well as or better than you. Delegate responsibilities to people that have more bandwidth than you.

The concept of work-life balance is becoming more and more relevant in an ever-dynamic work environment. The role played by the individual is as important as that of the organisation in managing this tumultuous see-saw.

Balance activity with serenity, wealth with simplicity, persistence with innovation, community with solitude, familiarity with adventure, constancy with change, leading with following.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie.