Guide for Mentoring and Coaching Program
- Why Career Women need mentoring and coaching
Understanding the social, psychological, and physical demands that women face is important for any individual about to undertake a mentoring/coaching program.
Today’s woman must cope with far more personal and social pressures than any other generation. Early intervention through a structured mentor/coaching relationship may be able to give career women the tools and support they need to deal effectively with these pressures in their career advancement.
The following are among the myriad ofissues:
- To make substantial personal change
- To balance work and family
- To reduce stress
- To start a new career or business
- To find direction and support in transition
- To move forward in something that has been put off for too long
- To get more motivation, and have accountability
- To accomplish a dream or something that is important to them
- To overcome chaos and create a simpler, more organized life
- To design a complete life plan (both business and personal goals)
- To discover your passions & values and live them out
- To have a deeper sense of purpose and spirituality
- To improve relationships
- To increase productivity and financial security
- To have more fun, happiness and passion for life
- To live a fulfilled life; to leave a legacy
- Social and Time Management
- Career Exploration
- Role of a Mentor/Coach
- Mentors’ roles fall into four categories:
- Providing help and tutoring
- Providing career exploration assistance
- Providing emotional support
- Providing social experiences
It is important for mentors and coaches to serve as guides, role models, advocates and ‘friend’s to their protégés.
- What Mentors/Coaches are not
- Therapy
- Consulting
- Training
- Academic Development
- Parenting
- Social Work
- Elements of effective mentoring and Coaching
- Involves protégé in deciding how to structure mentoring/coaching activities
- Makes a commitment to be consistent and dependable
- Recognizes that the relationship may be fairly one-sided for some time – mentors are responsible for keeping the relationship alive.
- Active listening. Active listeners are the ones who provide non-verbal gestures that indicate they're following what you're saying.
- Dedicated to Success; theirs and others.
- Curious enough to probe for solutions and alternatives
- Engaged with their surroundingsby showinginterest in the world around them.
- Willing to step out of their comfort zones.
- Are Responsible, Respectful, & Ready.
- Stages in Mentoring and Coaching
- Engagement
- How do l find a mentor that will help me?
- How do l approach them?
- Establishing rapport and trust
- Set goals and expectations
- Understand current state – realities
- Identify obstacles and how to overcome them
- Explore the past performance and achievements
- Structure a plan
- Establish milestones
- Bringing closure to the program/relationship
- Transitioning the protégé
- Rules of communication
- Make communication positive.
- Be clear and specific.
- Recognize that each individual sees things from a different point of view.
- Be open and honest about your feelings.
- Be supportive and accepting.
- Do not preach or lecture.
- Learn to listen.
- Maintain eye contact.
- Allow time for protégé to talk without interruption; show you are interested in what he or she has to say.
- Get feedback to be sure you are understand
- Listen for a feeling tone as well as for words.
- Ask questions when you do not understand.
- Set examples rather than giving advice.