Impact of ementors

[Carole McCulloch]

Finalising some reports for projects this week and looking for some words of wisdom from other ementors.

What impact do ementors have in your learning environment?
What strategies do ementors use to create that impact?
What examples can you share about your ementors?

CC

[Chris Sutton]

Having been an ementor to a number of people over the past few years, I find that in my environment ementoring is a two way street. I've learnt a great deal from my mentees. They often bring a fresh new pair of eyes and ears to the field and have had experience with technologies and techniques that I haven't come across. The establishment of that two way relationship, where the mentor and mentee have mutual respect and value is, I believe, essential to effective mentoring.

A mentor doesn't have to know everything. I believe that a mentor, be they 'e' or not 'e', is not there to give the answers to challenges and difficulties. A mentor is a 'wise friend' (and sometimes fulfills the role of the 'Wise Fool', able to express truths without fear or favour) who holds up a mirror to the mentee and asks, "What do you think you might do? or "How do you think you should handle that?" and then talks through the alternatives, encouraging the mentee to seek and find their own solutions.

Active listening and emotional intelligence are the most valuable strategies of the ementor. Finding the clues to the mentees real agenda in an environment where body language and tone of voice are often not available is the greatest challenge. In terms of ementoring tools, the free 3 seat VRoom from Elluminate and applications such as Skype and Messenger have made ementoring a lot easier than is used to be. Struggling with text chat and NetMeeting left much to be desired as an ementoring environment.

[Carole McCulloch]

Hi Chris,

I liked your statement: 'The establishment of that two way relationship, where the mentor and mentee have mutual respect and value is, I believe, essential to effective mentoring.'

This is the beginning of the TRUST which is another essential in effective mentoring. This needs to be a two way street also - trust that the mentor will be there and trust that the mentee will value the advice and provide feedback. My own experiences have taught me NOT to make assumptions and to ask the critical questions when required to ensure that I'm not missing anything. Two events recently provided good examples of this - I have been asked to mentor some specific e-learning projects for communities here in NE Victoria - these would not have occurred if the trust had not been built over the year(s) and if I had not asked the searching questions to help them move to the next phase of their e-learning journey.

A good mentor recognises when a mentee is ready and willing to move on and to take some initiative for themselves - this is the right time to follow them and support when asked.

A good mentor also recognises when a mentee becomes a champion and is happy and capable of leading others - this is the right time to get out of the way.

Is this what you meant by emotional intelligence?

CC