The dos and don’ts of mentoring: why mentoring works for women

The dos and don’ts of mentoring: why mentoring works for women

Mentoring is the process of having a significant beneficial effect on the life or career of another individual, generally as a result of personal one-on-one contact. A mentor is one who offers knowledge, insight, perspective or wisdom that is especially useful to the other person.
Traditionally mentoring has been used to assist promising junior executives climb the career ladder. It usually involved a more skilled senior person sponsoring and encouraging the protégée. Very often this happened through informal networks. Recently the concept of mentoring has
taken on a new dimension focused more specifically on career direction, goal setting, role models, mentee visibility, networking, support systems, and a revitalisation of self and career. Current practice has also found peer mentoring to be highly effective and while it is important that the mentor should be experienced and be able to pass on the wisdom of that experience to the
protégée, it is not always necessary for the mentor to be at a very senior level within an organization. Recent practice is also finding that both parties to the mentor process benefit. In the past it was assumed that mentoring was a oneway process in which only mentees gained. In fact, mentors report that their participation in mentor schemes has given them a fresh perspective on their own lives and careers.
Drawing heavily from experiences at the University of Southern Queensland, this interactive workshop will throw new light on the ways in which women are changing the
traditional ideas and practice of mentoring. To facilitate the process of identifying career directions and pathways, mind mapping will be used to help participants to record their own profiles, and with input on careers counselling, to identify the best matches between mentors and mentees.

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