CSWT Papers
Empowerment of Mentees through Team Mentoring
Ken Bryant

Abstract

Mentoring is a growth relationship which has traditionally been limited to a one-on-one experience between two people, a mentor and a mentee. It is a fundamental form of human development that has called for one person to invest time, energy, and personal know-how in assisting the growth and development of another person. The new mindset in a teams-oriented culture now requires an expansionist form of thinking which involves mentee development in the context of groups and teams. This new vision for mentoring still utilizes a new commitment to many of the same basic quality components of the one-on-one approach.

 Empowerment of Mentees Through Team Mentoring

The story of Mentor comes from Homer’s Odyssey. When Odysseus, king of Ithaca, went to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusted the care of his household to his servant, Mentor. Mentor also served as teacher and overseer of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. After the war, Odysseus was not allowed to return home, but was condemned to wander vainly for ten years. Eventually, Telemachus, went in search of his father accompanied by Mentor, who revealed himself to be Athena, Goddess of War and patroness of the arts and industry. Eventually, Odysseus and Telemachus were reunited. In time the word Mentor became synonymous with trusted advisor, friend, teacher, and wise person (Shea, 1997).

Mentoring is nothing new in organizations that recognize the importance of growing and nurturing their employees. Traditionally, mentoring in business has been ad hoc. An older, senior member of an organization, usually white and male, would select a promising employee and nurture and encourage the younger worker, also usually white and male, and in the management ranks on the track to the top (Dockery & Sahl, 1998). Today, this kind of reductionist approach to mentoring is being replaced in some organizations with expansionist thinking ((Kaye & Jacobson, 1996) which replaces the traditional mentor role with a learning leader who works with learning groups or learning circles (Rogers, 1992).

Group mentoring is an innovative and powerful tool which avoids some of the pitfalls of the more traditional mentor-protege relationships. It is also utilizes learning relationships based on individual and team empowerment.

New Visions for Mentoring

Mentoring is not designed solely for the purpose of sustaining a company’s greatness, but it is for the purpose of enhancing the personal greatness of its workers (Fisher, 1998). Mentoring supplies a river of continuity which flows from generation to generation with a legacy of culture, purpose, vision, and mission (Hadden, 1997). Mentors are helpers who fulfill a variety of roles ranging from a persistent encourager who facilitates the building of mentees’ confidence, to that of an exhorter who challenges mentees to excel in their performance.

Homer’s epic poem, The Oddyssey, describes Mentor as a trusted advisor and tutor to Odysseus’s son, Telemachus. At one point, Mentor disguised himself as a bird who watched over Telemachus from an undetected perch in a nearby tree. He did not direct his behavior or his choices, he merely stood ready to help. Hadden (1997) illustrates the role of a mentor by the use of an umbrella. The ribs of the umbrella represent the various roles of the mentor: advisor, sponsor, tutor, advocate, coach, protector, role model, and guide. A mentor shares experience, wisdom, knowledge, and perspective that stem from "having been there, done that." The mentor shares within the context of a growing, caring, and role-modeling relationship which serves as pipeline to resources and a gateway to success.

Mentoring is a method of touching every facet of people’s lives, if people accept and apply the mentor’s insights to their lives. Ownership of what is offered by the mentor allows people to experience greater personal and professional success as they are enabled to contribute in a faster way to the system of which they are a part.. A large number of successful people had mentors. In the USA most corporate presidents had mentors. Also, nearly two-thirds of successful executives had mentors and those who had mentors received higher salaries (Jackson, 1993). In fact, professionals who had mentors are reported to earn between $5,610 and $22,450 more annually than those who did not (Tyler, 1998).

Expansionist Mentoring

Most mentoring models have been fashioned by reductionist thinking which has emphasized a one-on-one relationship between a mentor and a mentee. The new vision for mentoring involves expansionist thinking which emphasizes employee development through the use of groups. In this paradigm, employees are grouped together into "learning groups" varying from three to 12 members (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996; Rogers, 1992) led by an individual mentor to groups of 25 or more which are led by several mentors simultaneously (Hardy, 1998).

Team-to-team mentoring is also being used by some orgamizations. Senior teams mentor junior teams creating a large resource of skills and experiences from which mentees can receive effective help. Team-to-team mentoring also serves as a buffer to the political problems that can result when a mentor is no longer approved by senior management or resigns (Tyler, 1998).

The mentors are characterized as learning leaders who are concerned about their own learning, the learning of others, and the future of the organization (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996). They are more exactly described as being successful in their field, have contact with a wide variety of individuals, have accumulated extensive experience, demonstrate substantial power as a result of their person or their position, faithfully foster employees’ development, control substantial resources, possess broad organizational knowledge, manage teams successfully, and have a reputation for technical and operational competence. In addition to these, they have an incisive mind, emotional openness, a sense of humor, Socratic teaching abilities, and sensitivity to diversity (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996).

People who do well in the role of a mentor tend to take a more personal interest in people and commit themselves to development of relationships. As a result, they tend to be present during the crisis periods and turning points of a person’s career, demonstrating interest in their growth and development. They are willing to commit time and energy to the relationship regardless of the risks to them. Good mentors also have the ability to influence the career of another person, since they are recognized, influential leaders in their fields who can provide another person with upward mobility (Jackson, 1993).

The traditional one-to-one mentoring may still have a place in organizations, but the learning-group approach provides a more effective cross-functional, four-way learning opportunity: 1) mentees learn from each other in the peer network; 2) mentors learn from each other; 3) mentors learn from mentees; and 4) mentees learn from mentors (Hardy, 1998). Learning groups also avoid some of the dangers associated with the one-to-one mentoring model. In addition to reducing the risk of personality clashes, learning groups are not as greatly impacted when a mentor leaves,

The Matching Game

In selecting people to participate in learning groups, it is very important to take note of the group as a whole, both interaction and synthesis. It is important that there be diversity in position levels, functions, gender, race, and career goals. Diversity creates a special, dynamic opportunity for group members to share in the perspectives of people who are in different positions and areas of the organization. Diversity facilitates the development of a peer network where people can make contact with a variety of areas that will enlarge their thinking. Diversity, though, is not usually achieved in a small group by accident. Diversity can only be achieved deliberately (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996). At the same time Tyler (1998) cautions against establishing a mentor program so that diversity is the only goal. Group "chemistry" still needs to be considered. It is not easy to pair mentors and mentees. There is disagreement among experts on whether to assign mentors or to allow choice. Usually people tend to choose to be with those who are most like them (Tyler, 1998).

Group Action

Learning groups vary in their meeting frequencies and lengths of time. Kaye & Jacobson (1996) encourage learning groups to set an agenda that accommodates any topics or concerns through a process of dialogue rather than discussion. This allows the leader and the group to share the responsibility for learning at all times. Kaye & Jacobson (1996) addresses the distinction made by Peter Senge between discussion and dialogue. Senge emphasizes the power of shared responsibility through dialogue as involving thinking more freely at deeper levels, talking about beliefs, exploring ideas and gaining insight, adding knowledge, stretching oneself, and diverging toward varied interests. Senge identifies discussion as involving attempts to influence others, seeking solutions, determining actions, making decisions, gaining consensus, and maintaining hierarchy.

This type of approach, based on dialogue, takes mentors and mentees to a deeper level of thinking and a partnership conducive to empowerment. Such empowerment, though, does not happen on its own. Time away from the learning leader and time together as a group encourages groups to not get into a "you tell us" mode of doing business. Therefore, mentoring needs to be linked to daily work.

Learning group dialogue must seek to bridge the gap between the mentoring experience and the mentees’ life on the job. Real learning takes place when mentees are back on duty handling the challenges of the real world. The learning process is continued when mentees discuss the meaning of their "real-life" experiences while on the job. The real key to learning assignments is having mentees take on specific development assignments that offer true growth opportunities while on the job. These assignments are usually placed in two basic categories: 1) platform and 2) on-the-job.

Throughout the entire process, learning leaders serve as advocates for experimentation. More importantly, learning leaders take responsibility for guiding the dialogue surrounding the learning assignments (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996).

Managers and Mentees

Mentees are also employees whose activities go beyond their group meetings. If the mentor is not the supervisor or manager, it is vital that the supervisor also be committed to and familiar with the mentoring process. Managers who are committed to business and employee development will encourage exploration and development along with responsible commitment to the workplace. They will provide personal feedback on values and mindsets, cultivate employees’ capabilities for both current and future jobs, help create and process challenging learning assignments in coordination with learning leaders and other group members, endorse experimentation while applauding new approaches and permitting mistakes, and ask questions to encourage discussion on the assignments (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996).

Variety Within Mentoring

Mentoring is not just something for a chosen few. It can be done by anyone, at any time, and in just about any place. Whether it is a one-time event or a lifelong relationship, it can be carried out informally by means of a friendship, or formally, as a result of a highly structured program (Shea, 1997). Informal mentorships spring from the desire of the mentor to help the mentee and a willingness of the mentee to receive assistance from the mentor. Formal mentoring can involve a degree of pressure as a result of the positions of the mentor and mentee. Still, the management of a formal mentoring program must be characterized by mutual interest and participation without obligation or intimidation (Chao et al., 1992).

Mentoring is a relationship which can also be almost out of the area of awareness. Without realizing it people can say and do things which have powerful effects on others. The effects are maximized by the giving nature of the mentor and the receptiveness of the mentee. Mentoring goes above and beyond obligatory relationships. It sparks life-changing, long-lasting personal and professional growth (Shea, 1997).

A Commitment To Mentoring

The changes may be small or large, but mentoring changes both the mentor and mentee. It requires emotional and psychological preparedness along with time and effort. It can cause a significant loss in a variety of areas of life. Therefore, mentors need to believe in the value of their work and weigh carefully the mentoring decision before a commitment is made. Since the mentee’s needs and mentor’s resources will vary over time, the decision needs to be reappraised at definite intervals (Shea, 1997).

Empowerment of mentees comes by allowing for the development of their personal abilities. Effective mentoring tends to focus of what the mentees do in response to the mentor’s help rather than how they do it. Mentors need to focus on the positive results of the mentoring relationship (Shea, 1997).

The mentee must be empowered to experience a sense of self. If the mentor’s ways become the only acceptable to way to do anything, the mentee will lose a sense of responsibility. The mentee (individual or team) must be encouraged to work out the details, try different approaches, and discover the talents and strengths of the individual or team. An effective, empowering mentor never takes ownership of the mentee, but encourages the mentee to discover talents and strengths (Shea, 1997).

Some of the best mentoring comes out of relationships where the mentor and mentee see mentoring as a life-long relationship of self and/or team development. The world changes too quickly to count on what was learned in the past to be sufficient in the present. Therefore, mentors must commit themselves to maintain a focus on basic principles and fundamental truths; they must stay informed of new developments and their implications; and they must choose to master active listening skills, coaching skills, effective confrontation techniques, or new methods of resolving conflict (Shea, 1997).

Understanding Mentees’ Needs

Individuals, or teams made up of individuals, are constantly seeking to manage personal, environmental and organizational change. Change is simply the name of the game, no matter if it is self-imposed, a new option, or intrusive. With the change comes a sense of loss, and a fear of the unknown and of the future. Often the mentor’s role is simply a matter "being there," listening, and comforting. It is the need to help a person adapt to the challenge of change.

Feelings are very important and should never be discounted. A good mentor seeks to know the feelings of the mentee. How people feel about their self-images affects how they deal with problems. Research indicates that nearly two thirds of the American population suffer from generalized low self-esteem (Shea, 1997). These feelings can be expressed verbally and non-verbally. Either way, it is vital that the mentor take the mentee’s problem seriously. By listening in a non-judgmental way to the discouragement, the mentor allows the mentees to own and vent their negative feelings. Then the mentor is better able to provide solutions when asked, or offer help as the mentees decide on a problem-solving course of action.

Change impacts people. When there is significant change going on, people need five things to successfully deal with it according to Shea (1997):

Instant change should not be expected. In fact, instant change can be so painful people begin to feel overwhelmed. Mentees need a rich variety of effective coping mechanisms to deal with the change and shift their context. Mentors must help mentees to make mental adjustments that change the dreaded fears in their minds to a positive and productive mental context. This is not always a clear cut process, but it is vitally important to note even the smallest of concerns that the mentee mentions along with small or gradual changes and verbal and nonverbal signals (Shea, 1997).

Types of Mentor Assistance

Shea (1997) reports that private and government research reveals seven types of mentor assistance that seem to be very helpful in encouraging mentee health: (a) helping people shift their mental context, (b) listening , (c) identifying and verifying feelings, (d) effectively confronting negative intentions or behaviors, (e) providing appropriate information when needed, (f) delegating authority or giving permission, and (g) encouraging exploration of options.

Constructive imagination appears to be an important ingredient in success in every field of endeavor. Mentors need to facilitate the construction of a healthy vision of what people want to be. This type of mental creation allows them to own an image in their mind that can tend to almost automatically encourage them to do the things necessary to bring the new vision into reality.

Active listening is just that--active and listening. It means allowing people to talk uninterrupted, accepting what they say as genuine to them, not critiquing, criticizing or voicing solutions. This kind of respectful listening gives people the opportunity to release emotional energy and oftentimes develop an alternative solution. Active listening also allows the mentor to listen for feelings and for motivation. The capacity to do this is critical to effective mentoring.

Sometimes the mentor, be it an individual or a team, has to confront an attitude, behavior or plan of a mentee. This needs to be done without criticism, threatening, or pressure that may possibly lower the mentee’s self-esteem. The mentor must always use "I" messages to confront. "I" messages allow the mentor to share a neutral description of the mentee’s perceived intentions, attitude or behavior. They also allow the mentor to make a statement of the possible

negative effects on the mentee or other people, and the feelings the mentor is having about the mentee’s plan. "I" messages do not tell the mentee how to behave, but allow the mentee to make the decision (Shea, 1997).

Mentors must be careful not to allow their enthusiasm to cause them to begin to criticize, give advice, or try to rescue people. These three behaviors are all part of what is called negative psychological games which produce put-downs of everyone involved. These types of behavior are unhealthy and lead to people feeling angry, depressed, or fearful. The research shows that these behaviors should be used sparingly, if at all (Shea, 1997).

Mentors and "constructive criticism" just do not go together. Criticism is evaluative and judgmental, no matter how it is approached. Good intentions are undercut by the damage to the mentees self-esteem. If people accept "constructive criticism," they acknowledge they have been bad or wrong. This is something they are unlikely to admit if they intentionally did wrong, and something they should not acknowledge if they have not done something wrong. Two very important human motivators, survival and security, are threatened by criticism and evaluation.

Mentors need to take a new, objective and creative stance toward criticism, that allows them to encourage beneficial change through information and healthy alternatives instead of criticism (Shea, 1997).

Advice giving is another strong temptation to most mentors. Yet, when advice is given by mentors, they assume the position of superior knowledge, insight, or wisdom. This is not only presumptuous, but it is also arrogant. Advice giving tendencies need to be replaced by careful listening, mirroring back feelings and thoughts, and providing ideas and information which mentees can use to discover their own solution. Most mentees’ growth actually depend on the mentees solving their own problems.

Advice giving and rescuing are two sides of the same coin. Oftentimes, people who are looking for advice are looking for someone to rescue them. It is quite often a repetitive pattern of behavior of those individuals who struggle with feelings of inadequacy, prior victimization, or maladaptation to crises. When mentors rescue mentees repeatedly, the mentor becomes part of the problem (Shea, 1997).

The Myths of Mentoring

Mentoring has through the years developed tremendously. Along with the positive results, many myths of mentorhood have also come to light (Warner, 1994).

Myth #1: Mentors exist only for career development. In reality there are no specifically designed roles, degrees, certifications, or instruction manuals. The roles of a mentor change from person to person. Also, both the personal and professional lives of mentees are dealt with in addition to career development.

Myth #2: You only need one mentor. The truth is that a person can have multiple mentors. Different mentors provide different gifts and can tap into different facets of a person’s life.

Myth #3: Mentorhood is a one-way street. Again, not true. Learning flows from the mentor to the mentee and from the mentee to the mentor. It is a reciprocal process.

Myth #4: A mentor has to be older than the mentee. In reality age is not synonymous with wisdom. Mentors can be younger than mentees.

Myth #5: A mentor has to be the same gender and race as the mentee. Yet, cross-gender and cross-cultural mentoring can balance the workplace, enrich the lives of those involved and provide valuable insights.

Myth #6: Once a mentor, always a mentor. The real goal of mentoring is not to encourage dependency, but the higher state of interdependency.

The Role of Senior Management

In order for a mentoring program to be effective, the organization of which it is a part must be committed to the plan. The commitment cannot be superficial, but it must be at all levels within the organization (Jackson, 1993). A culture which favors mentoring will only take place when senior management modifies its behavior and begins to seriously consider its organization’s internal diversity issues; actively engages in inclusion management practices; begins to require programs that can measure progress and results; and, effects change long after the inclusion process has formally ended.

Conclusion

The changing business environment of the 21st century will continue to increase the need for the development of effective and efficient mentoring programs throughout the business world. More and more of the baby-boomers are beginning to retire and their places in the business world will need to be filled. The diversity of the work force will continue to make it essential identify and mature high-performing employees. The magnitude of the shortage and the resulting competition will demand a creative response that can best be met by the kind of dynamics that is best provided by learning groups (Flynn, 1995). It is true that companies and organizations that are experimenting with learning groups as they turn away from the more traditional one-on-one mentoring are finding many more questions. Some of these questions need not be answered quickly, since learning group mentoring celebrates the ongoing learning process (Kaye & Jacobson, 1996).

Mentoring is really nothing new in those organizations that want to be good stewards of the talent they have. Mentees need to observe, question, and explore as individuals and as groups. Mentors need to demonstrate, explain, and model to individuals and groups. The problems of business will be addressed and individuals, organizations and teams will be enhanced.

 References

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