| FROM OUR EXPERIENCE |
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| Mentoring and personal development |
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What do Socrates and Plato have in common with Dr. Dre and Eminem? How about Sir Lawrence Olivier and Anthony Hopkins with Batman and Robin? Although these comparisons may seem bizarre, maybe even a little bit forced, there is something that connects these people in a certain peculiar way: the master-apprentice relationship or the so called mentoring process.
And what is so special about this kind of relationship? Aren’t we all in a relationship of this sort during our school years or even after? It is widely accepted that the learning process never stops and nowadays, more than ever, the need to study faster is critical. So what does mentorship bring in this world guided by speed (the speed with which you react, learn, develop)?
Besides some compelling or allegedly sweeping definitions about this term and the process it implies, my personal experience as a mentee made me understand what mentoring is all about. I met Alain at a work shop in 2001, back then I had just arrived from Ardeal to Bucharest and I was trying to find my rhythm in our nation’s capital. My master-apprentice relationship didn’t have a formal beginning, I remember that even during my first work shop with him we had a few conflicting discussions due to the different points of view I had regarding some of the concepts.
Without controlling the process in any way and, I confess, without realizing it at that moment I ended up participating in his work shops, twice a year. In time I realized something was changing in the way I was communicating with him. The transition began at the moment when our conversations shifted from the everyday subjects to my plans for the future, my motivation as a trainer and the values I believe in. Obviously there weren’t any straightforward questions but now, looking back, I realize that this was a subtle process lead by Alain. In time we ended up having conversations about the way some of the modules I was learning about in his sessions could apply and alternating them with stories about the experiences we both had. Eventually we spent more time talking outside the training and coaching programs. Now we have the sort of relationship were we can have a conversation anytime it’s necessary, without any sort of formality.
What makes me keep in touch with him, although we live in different countries and we only see each other once every 2-3 months? It’s the feeling of curiosity, because I see a wealth of knowledge and experience in him just waiting to be discovered through the right questions. I always look forward to talking to him because I want to see what challenges he’s got up his sleeve. I also realize that at the same time I’m trying not to copy him or choose him as a role model (personally or professionally). We do different things (he coaches, I train and coach) but we have certain common principles.
If I were asked why I consider him my mentor, I’ll simply say that he has and has had an influence on my development as a trainer and a manager. How has this influence manifested itself? Stories, personal examples, challenges, debates, or questions where he pushed me to find an answer, advice and even edification. And what’s great about all this is that it happened naturally, without my realizing that he was using certain techniques.
These days there are companies that have this certain system for development and guidance imbedded in their corporate culture and where managers with potential have other managers as mentors. The essential element in these types of systems is that mentors aren’t direct managers or teammates. The essence of mentorship is that of using the experience and charisma of an employee to aid in educating and developing another employee with potential along in his career evolution.
But mentorship doesn’t mean formal relations only. Historically speaking it is an informal process that has existed ever since Antiquity. The word is first mentioned in Homer’s "Odyssey", when Athena disguises herself as the old man named Mentor in order to help Telemachus during his difficult moments. Ever since, along the centuries, the master-apprentice relationship took different forms: guru-disciple (in Buddhism), rabbi-disciple (in the Judaic and Christian religions), and apprenticeship (in medieval guilds).
In essence mentorship is more of a development platform than an instrument or a technique. It’s more than coaching, because it’s based on a long term relationship and it doesn’t aim to solve specific problems. Mentorship can be a way of life, based on helping people develop or guiding others through your shared experience and the way you challenge them to develop.
Mentorship is about trust between the master and the disciple.
Rares Manolescu
Senior Manager
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Human Invest is a Premier League company in the arena of training and
organizational development consultancy services, present on the Romanian market since 1998.
We are recognized for conceiving and implementing programs which offer managers an authentic experience towards improving their leadership
performances, and thus we support companies in becoming more and more engaged in delivering excellent services for their clients.
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