Читать книгу Better Leaders Ask Better Questions - Lindsay Ph.D Tighe - Страница 12

Whilst I acknowledge that there are many more hats that we wear, the final one I would like to consider is that of mentor. There are many ways to describe what a mentor does, but over the years I have settled on there being two clear components to the mentoring roles. The first is that the mentor is there to support another person in their development, and to do this there is an expectation that they will share their wisdom and knowledge from their journey so far. The other feature that defines a mentor is that they have ‘been there and done that’; their role is to guide another person so as to enable them to successfully deal with the challenges that they are confronted with on their journey.

The mentor is a role model and generally someone to whom you aspire. Certainly, when I have utilised mentors in the past I have had a huge amount of respect for them. It has been my desire that, one day and in some way, I would be like them, and my expectations were that they would show me how to reach my goal. Currently, I have a mentor who is a Professor of Philosophy, and whilst I never see myself reaching that position, one day I would like to become a wiser person and trust that through the mentoring I receive I am on the road to achieving that aim.

To reiterate, the role of a mentor is a very valuable one that can have a profound impact on people, particularly in their learning, growth and development. As managers and leaders, we frequently act as informal mentors to people and we may also take on more formal mentoring roles with staff. Again, it should be emphasised that there is a prerequisite to wearing the mentoring hat in that you will be expected to bring your expertise, knowledge, wisdom and ideas to the table.

We have explored, then, a number of roles that sit traditionally down the ‘teller’ end of our line, and whilst I absolutely accept that managers and leaders who fulfil their roles well won’t operate entirely from that space, I ask you to bear with me as I continue to approach these explanations from a purely ‘black and white’ perspective.