1. Woodwater House, Exeter
Mentoring
Exeter PA Network
October 2013

2. Overview
• What is mentoring?
• Benefits of mentoring
• What makes a good mentor?
• Dimensions of mentoring
• Awareness of development areas
• Challenging feedback
• GROWS model

3. Activity 1

4. What is mentoring?
• "Mentoring is to support and encourage people to
manage their own learning in order that they may
maximise their potential, develop their skills,
improve their performance and become the person
they want to be."
– Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring
• Mentor – advisor or guide
– Dictionary definition

5. Benefits to mentor
• Improved job satisfaction - seeing mentee succeed.
• Recognition from management.
• Review and strengthen your own professional skills.
• Get to know more junior staff.
• Develop your network.
• Increase your understanding of other people.
• Opportunity to reflect and see things differently and
influence others to do so.

6. Benefits to mentee
• Improved confidence and self-esteem.
• Knowledge of accepted behaviours and values.
• Sense of value within the organisation.
• Potential advancement and career opportunities.
• ‘Safe’ learning environment to cope with formal and
informal structures of the organisation.
• Help and support – opportunity to try out ideas /
approaches in a non-threatening environment.
• Objective source of feedback.

7. Benefits to the organisation
• Increased integration of the individual in order to
increase his/her sense of belonging / engagement.
• Improved opportunities for discussions with and
support for mentees.
• Maximise potential contribution of every employee.
• Increased attractiveness of the organisation to
potential employees.

8. What makes a good mentor?
Can help build mentee’s
network
Good communication
and social skills
Aware of internal
structures / politics
‘Expert’ within a field Good advisor Empathetic
Credible High level of integrity Motivational
Good role model Empowering Supportive
Challenges Presents opportunities Open and honest
Inspirational Able to guide Resilient
Positive Sounding board Discrete
Patient Persistent Trusting and
trustworthy
Objectives Secures commitment Encouraging

9. Activity 2

10. Dimensions of mentoring

11. Activity 3

12. Self-development

13. Activity 4

14. Reactions to feedback
• Complete disagreement
• Give as many examples as you can.
• Probe for areas of disagreement.
• Draw out his/her version of events and probe strongly
around the differences.
• Explain why there is a problem by clarifying the
consequences of his/her behaviour.
• Keep an open mind.

15. Reactions to feedback
• Lack of interest or not concerned
• Link your feedback strongly to performance standards and
make the performance gap clear.
• Involve the recipient in finding solutions and in drawing up
an action plan.
• Get a clear commitment to the plan for change.
• Follow up (again and again if necessary).

16. Reactions to feedback
• Shock
• Listen and empathise.
• Gets upset, cries
• Give him/her permission to do this.
• Give him/her time and space.
• Talk about why he/she is finding the feedback so
upsetting.
• When he/she has calmed down, carry on gradually.
• Try not to put off the session.

17. Reactions to feedback
• Gets angry
– Empathise and acknowledge his/her right to be angry.
– Find something to agree with in what they say, e.g. “I
appreciate that you have been working very hard…”
– Probe to understand the reason(s) for this reaction.
– Provide clear examples and explain why you have given
this feedback.
– Do not be deflected.

18. GROWS Model
• Goal
• Reality
• Options
• Will
• Success

19. GROWS Model
• Goal – what are you trying to achieve?
• Reality – what, when, where, how much, how often?
• Options – what are the different ways you could
approach this issue? What if you do nothing?
• Will – what are you going to do? What obstacles
could you face? How will you overcome them?
• Success – how will you know you’ve been
successful? What will you do differently as a result?

20. Mentoring responsibilities
• Manage the relationship
• Encourage the mentee
• Nurture the mentee
• Teach the mentee
• Offer mutual respect
• Respond to their needs

21. Questions