I have dealt with this subject before, but it does
bear repeating:
I am sure that we have all wondered about the
appropriateness of telling someone to ‘do
as I say’ and then setting a bad
example for them. This got me
thinking about the concept of mentorship, especially as we apply it in
Toastmasters.
A quick look at Wikipedia led me to discover the following, which I have adapted a bit:
In Greek mythology, Mentor was a friend of Odysseus (whom we also know as Ulysses) who was placed in charge of Odysseus’s, son Telemachus, and of his palace, when he left to fight in the Trojan War.
The goddess, Athena visited Telemachus taking on the disguise of Mentor. As Mentor, she encouraged Telemachus to stand up against the suitors who were after his mother and to go abroad to find out what had happened to his father.
Because of Mentor's relationship with Telemachus, and Athena's encouragement and practical plans for dealing with personal dilemmas, the term Mentor has been adopted in English as meaning someone who imparts wisdom shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague.
A further bit of surfing on the Net gave me the
following, in terms of the purpose of mentoring:
"Mentoring is to support and
encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximize
their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the
person they want to be." Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching
& Mentoring
Both the historical
background to the word, mentor, and its purpose as defined above, tie in well with what Toastmasters had in
mind when they developed the mentorship programme. It all starts with visitors
to the club. They are potential members who should be encouraged by existing
members to understand what is going on. Why
are speeches timed? What is an Um and Ah counter? What is the purpose of Table
Topics?
It all seems easy once you have been part of
Toastmasters for a while, but for someone who has decided to join up there are
still so many things to learn. The CC
and CL manuals are given to members when they start, but working their way
through them needs explanation. Then
there are the various meeting duties
which they might be expected to perform. They might even be asked to stand for
a position on the club executive. It’s all very
daunting and I know that more than one member has been lost to a club where mentoring was not taken seriously. In
fact, from having chatted to one or two new members, I found that they had been
assigned mentors when they joined,
but didn’t really know what to do with
that knowledge, as the mentor assigned to them had not once bothered to
make contact with them.
You might be asking,” who really benefits from a mentoring relationship?” The answer is
simple – everyone.
New
members benefit by:
·
Understanding
the club programme format and its customs
·
Developing
confidence as they participate in club activities and work
on their CL manuals
·
Learning speaking skills to advance through their CC manuals
Older
members can also benefit by:
·
Refining
their skills
·
Mentoring
in specialized areas
Mentors
benefit by:
·
Keeping their skills honed
·
Earning
the respect of their mentees
·
Learning
skills from those they mentor
The
club
benefits by:
·
Having happy members
·
Retaining
members – and growing the club
It sounds like a good idea all round!
However, to coin a clichéd phrase, ‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest
link’. Club executives cannot think that they have done their duties once they have assigned mentors to each new
member. There has to be follow-up to
see whether the relationship is working.
Then, with regard to the parties in the mentoring pair: whose responsibility is it to keep in
touch? Initially, it makes sense
for the mentor to establish contact and to ‘befriend’ the mentee.
Thereafter, the mentee should have
the freedom to pose questions to the
mentor or to ask for help with the development and presentation of speeches, or with the roles that they have to play in club meetings. If the mentee
does not seek help, the mentor should
periodically enquire whether there is any area where he/she can render
assistance.
I like the biological term ‘symbiotic relationship’,
which in essence means a relationship between two entities which is mutually beneficial for the participants.
It’s a win-win situation as long as each party does what is expected of him.
When it comes to a mentoring programme at club
level, everyone involved stands to benefit. If our purpose is to ensure happy
members who are growing as speakers and in self-confidence, this will ensure
continued club growth – which, in turn will lead to the broader goals of
Toastmasters being met.
We just can’t
lose. So, let’s give it a real try,
shall we?
Until next time
Ricky Woods
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