Quality issues in mentoring
Vijay
colleague, akhila venkatachalam, whose diverse background -- B.E, BITS
Pilani; MA Psychology, Mumbai U.; MA in dance therapy, Drexel; 1st
year PhD in psychology, U. Mass Boston -- will command your interest.
among other things, she has also gained professional experience in
psychology and mentoring.
she had some perceptive observations to make during our conversation.
for instance, she suggests that any youngster interested in developing
a clear and early interest in the humanities -- if they can afford the
luxury -- ought to strongly consider taking an undergraduate degree in
philosophy. it is an area of study that underpins everything else, and
the rigor that it brings to an individual's approach to thinking is
priceless. akhila points out that an undergraduate degree in
philosophy would equip one with the tools to take on other subjects in
the humanities at the graduate level, as is indeed fairly common in
the US. mentors ought to float that possibility wherever appropriate.
speaking of mentors, akhila is far from convinced that the advice we
have received and recorded on facebook and the google group so far are
of the same quality. she is certain that the process needs more
structuring. there are logistical issues such as privacy and conflict
of interest to consider on an immediate basis-- what happens if one of
our 'mentees' looking for a career change turns out to be under the
direct professional supervision of a TII mentor in the real world? how
do we ensure such situations do not arise? do we hide names?
in the long run, akhila says, there should be written guidelines for
mentors to rely on. the mentors might provide very different advice to
the same individual -- which should be interpreted as a challenge for
the 'mentee' to critically engage with the dialogue -- but the single-
most important thing is that they need to have the same enlightened
approach to mentoring. experienced mentors will eventually supervise
other mentors; every aspiring TII mentor should prove their abilities
before being assigned responsibility. under no circumstances must the
quality of engagement be compromised.
she has promised to put up a detailed post by the middle of next week;
watch out for it.
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i met another colleague, sravish (B.S. Mathematics, UT Austin, co-
founder of WeFlap, a networking group for non-profit organizations)
for dinner last night, here in austin. we had a free-flowing
discussion. among other things, he stressed the need for mentors to
shape their charge's life experiences in whatever way possible; he
pointed out that a major drawback with the indian education system is
its willful suppression of individuality. sravish said that kids need
to be taught how to develop a confident personality and other crucial
life skills, it is of utmost importance that our mentors understand
their specific role.
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let me end by saying that volunteering demands a certain attitude: one
needs to have matured enough to be able to get past one's self-
absorption and then engage with others who might display a similar
level of self-absorption. TII is slowly developing into a super-group
of brilliant individuals, but make no mistake -- it is the uncanny
ability of these exceptionally talented people to connect with others
that will hopefully help us achieve our long-term goals.
best,
vijay
Vijay
the mentee? Should you try and be friends, get the older sibling
dynamic going, or should you keep it professional? Is there a balance
that can be struck?
-- v
Ankit Chandra
generally I think we should have a experienced partner role to play...
koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota...
usey perfect banana padta hai...
ankitchandra.blogspot.com
Aarti Ramaswami
Is it relevant to the mentoring exchange? Why is it useful? Will my mentee be able to process the info shared? How will s/he use it in her/his decision making? Does it enhance the mentee's skill or knowledge base? Will my or the mentee's privacy be compromised in any way?
of course, when we talk to mentees we arent always guarded, but if sensitive info is being shared, it would serve one well to be mindful of how the info will be perceived and used.
as for sharing personality and personal information about yourself, as ankit notes, it depends on your comfort level and trust in the mentee and your assessment of how suggestive the mentee is...while s/he looks up to you as a role model, the idea is to enourage her/him to understand oneself and one's own interests and not to blindly copy you or be like you...this is important because, in my experience, most indian students have a tendency towards dependency on an authority figure to make decisions and tend to emulate them rather than engaging in self-discovery.
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Since we are on the topic of mentoring...a note on mentor's support for mentees
I was supposed to send this in a while ago, but better late than never eh? below is some info on mentor behaviors that help mentees develop on professional and personal fronts (based on decades of research by Kathy Kram). these broad behavior categories have been validated and are "generalizable" (applicable) in organizational as well as academic contexts, and also across cultures...i provide simple descriptions for each of the categories below. they are meant to serve as guidelines for mentors. of course, a single mentor may not necessarily engage in all the mentoring behaviors since that would depend on the nature of the relationship, the duration, the purpose, the mentor's skill, the mentee's needs, etc...which is why many of us have (or are encouraged to have) a "developmental network" - i.e., a network of formal and informal mentors. hope this is useful...if anything, you at least will know what type of mentor behavior you are engaging in, and what you are not in your short-term or long-term exchanges with your mentee(s).
Career related behaviors: Behaviors that enhance mentee's career/academic advancement.
Sponsorship: Involves nominating the mentee for career/academic opportunities. (in TII, if you know your mentee very well and can vouch for him/her, perhaps you could suggest/recommend her name to some of your contacts for career or academic opportunities)
Networking, Exposure and Visibility: Involves assigning responsibilities that allow the mentee to develop relationships with key figures in the school/organization who may be able judge the mentee for further advancement. (in TII, this would take the form of say suggesting contact persons to your mentee to further their conversation on a specific topic of interest)
Coaching: Involves enhancing the mentee's skills, as well as knowledge and understanding of how to navigate effectively in the academic/corporate world, and build skills to achieve work/academic objectives. (in TII, perhaps you are teaching someone how to solve a particular math or stats problem, like Jaineels' recently noted experience, or teaching them creative writing skills, like Vijay, etc.)
Protection: Involves shielding the mentee from untimely or potentially damaging contact with other seniors. (in TII, i am not sure how much a mentor would engage in this, unless both mentor and mentee are currently in the same organization or school, or knows someone in TII that the mentee should definitely not interact with)
Challenging Assignments: Involves assignment of challenging work, supported with technical training and ongoing performance feedback to enable the mentee develop specific competencies and to experience a sense of accomplishment in a student/professional role. This would go hand in hand with coaching. (in TII, you could probably give your mentee a problem to solve, a topic for a creative writing paper, or a film to critique, or a business plan to come up with, as assignemnts that you would evaluate and give them pointers to improve on).
Psychosocial behaviors: Behaviors that enhance mentee's sense of competence, identity, and effectiveness
Role-Modeling: Involves the mentor consciously or unconsciously
setting a desirable example for the mentee to identify with. (in TII, related to our earlier discussion on self-disclosure, how you project yourself, and what information you share about yourself on personal and professional fronts has implications for how effective your role-modeling behaviors are).
Acceptance and Confirmation: Involves providing support and encouragement to the mentee to experiment with new behaviors.
Counseling: Involves providing a safe forum for the mentee to explore personal concerns that may interfere with a positive sense of self in the academic or work setting and in academic/career advancement.
Friendship: Involves mutual liking and understanding and enjoyable informal exchanges about work and outside-work experiences.
Vijay
to follow.
here's an interesting piece, related to our project in a tangential
sense. bal takes a negative view of multiple leadership in cricket,
but i thought it would make for interesting reading anyway.
http://content.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/397280.html