This document provides an overview of a mentor training program. It discusses what mentoring is, how it works in sports, the purpose and benefits of mentoring. It also covers adult learning principles, learning styles, characteristics of mentees, the mentoring process which includes identifying needs, setting goals, establishing agreements, providing feedback and reviewing. The document gives guidance on the first meeting, mentoring in action, facilitating feedback, planning difficult conversations, and the self-reflection process. The summary concludes that mentoring enhances coach/official education, effective mentors facilitate learning, it is a two-way beneficial process, setting up the relationship is important, and providing feedback is a critical mentor skill.

1. Mentor Training Program

2. Introductions
•
•
•
•
•
name
organisation and role
who has influenced you the most?
what motivates you to become a mentor?
what are your expectations of today?

3. What is mentoring?
“Behind every successful person, there is one
elementary truth: somewhere, somehow,
someone cared about their growth and
development. This person was their mentor.”
Dr Beverley Kaye, Up is Not the Only Way, 1997

4. Mentor = Trusted friend or advisor
however,
“A mentor provides information,
shares their experience or
expresses an opinion. However it
is always the mentee that decides,
acts and produces outcomes”
Anne Rolfe, Synergistic People Development

5. How does mentoring work in
your sport?
• Does it occur formally or informally?
• How are mentors and mentees matched up?
• What are the roles and responsibilities of
mentors?
• What are the benefits for
the mentor, mentee and
sport?

6. Purpose of mentoring
•
•
•
•
•
professional development
accreditation
updating
fast tracking
others

7. Adult Learning Principles
•
•
•
•
•
•
Autonomous and self-directed
Life experiences and prior knowledge
Goal-oriented
Relevancy-oriented
Practical
Need to be shown respect

8. Learning styles
Visual
They like:
Graphs, charts, mind maps/flow
charts and images.
Read/write
They like:
Lists, headings, written cue
words/phrases.
Auditory
They like:
Discussion groups, questions,
audio recordings, key points and
cue words.
Kinaesthetic
They like:
Demonstrations, doing the activity,
learning by experiencing, video
feedback, visualisation.
www.vark-learn.com

9. Characteristics of mentees
• Mentee 1 - is in awe of mentor, not confident, wants
the mentor to tell them what to do, struggles to self
reflect and drive things.
• Mentee 2 - is very confident, thinks they know it all and
wants to argue with the feedback from the mentor,
mentor has difficulty relating to the mentee.
• Mentee 3 - is very hard working, but very tough on
themselves, ‘beats themself up’ mentally if they make a
mistake, high achieving and a stress head.

10. The mentoring process
Identify needs
Set Goals
Establish an
agreement
Feedback
Observation
Review
Action plan

11. Getting started – The first
meeting
How would you approach the following:
• Building rapport, trust and empathy
• Identifying needs and setting goals
• Establishing ground rules
• Developing an agreement

12. The mentoring process
Identify needs
Set Goals
Establish an
agreement
Feedback
Observation
Review
Action plan

13. Mentoring in action
• Who set the goals for the session?
• Where did the mentor position herself?
• How and when did the mentor provide
feedback to the mentee?
• What was the outcome?
• How does observation
and feedback occur in
your sport?

14. The mentoring process
Identify needs
Set Goals
Establish an
agreement
Feedback
Meetings and
Observation
observations
Review
Action planning
Action plan

15. Facilitating feedback
• How did the mentor establish rapport?
• What questions did the mentor use to help
the mentee self-reflect?
• How did the mentor show they were
attentive and interested?
• How was the action plan developed? Were
the next steps clear?
• If there was conflict, how did the mentor
deal with it?

16. Planning a difficult conversation
• What outcome are you hoping to achieve?
• Identify the emotions the mentor and
mentee may be feeling
• How would you start the conversation?
• What questions could you ask to challenge
assumptions and perceptions?
• What behaviours would you like to display?
• How will you defuse conflict if it occurs?

17. The self reflection process
Action
Planning for
improvement
Analysis and
evaluation
Identification of
things to improve

18. Summary
• Mentoring enhances the coach/official education
process
• Effective mentors facilitate learning
• Mentoring is a two-way process that benefits both
the mentor and mentee
• Taking the time to set up the mentoring
relationship at the start is important for it’s long
term success
• Providing effective feedback is a critical skill for all
mentors

19. Thank you
Good luck with your mentoring