The Value of Mentoring

February 15, 2012

The good folks at whydev.org are starting a peer coaching program for the international development community.   That got me thinking recently about mentoring.  One of my earliest mentors advised me to ‘always be a mentor and have a mentor’;  and  I have always tried to follow that advice.  Sometimes the assumption is made that mentorship is ‘older’ to ‘younger’ but good mentor relationships don’t need to be age determined.  There are different kinds of mentorship relationships, and formal and informal programs.  Some of the ways mentors can support you are in your professional career, through a new project, or in a new environment or culture.  And  some of the best mentorship relationships are when the mentoring is two way.

In addition to having personal mentors (and trying to be a mentor in turn) on an informal basis, I have also recently been involved in two more formal mentorship programs: (1) Developing a mentorship program for the Helping Babies Breathe  program  to provide peer to peer support as birth attendants at a range of new levels and in a diversity of countries and cultures learn new skills;  and (2) Through an evolving collaborative program called the Collective Innovation and Impact Institute (Ci2i) where changemakers from many age ranges, experiences and cultures are supporting each other to learn and practice the skills we will need to lead or engage in transformative social change. We don’t have ‘experts’, but peer mentors and coaches.

I asked Sherri Bucher, one of the Helping Babies Breathe program mentors to comment on her experiences over the past few years in Kenya.  This is what she shared:

As a North American maternal-newborn-child health specialist who has lived and works in sub-Saharan Africa, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that mentoring is bi-directional and multi-dimensional.  While I may be mentoring my African nursing colleagues regarding research methodology, data management, and the logistical organization needed to incorporate pre/post evaluations into already busy training days, my African friends and colleagues are actively mentoring me regarding myriad aspects of the culture, the challenges they face as health care workers in a resource-constrained setting, and how to navigate, as a female foreign investigator, the interpersonal politics of a society within which I was not raised.

What are some of the aspects of a mentorship programs and relationships that I have found to be effective?

  • That the relationship be mutually beneficial and meaningful to both parties – that they match their expectations and goals for each other.
  • That cultural sensitivity and understanding be part of any cross-cultural relationships.
  • That time commitments be clear and realistic.

What experiences have you had with mentor relationships?  What have you found to be important characteristics of effective ones?

Categories: Collaboration, Communication, Partnerships
Tags:

  • Desiree Adaway

    I actually encourage young professionals in this sector to build their “personal board of directors”. I did it a few years back and it helped changed how I saw my own development and my work. I meet w/ them  1-2 of them every quarter… have subject matter experts who I can call upon to helped be that unbiased ear to help you think through specific situations. I also send them each an end of year report– highlighting my successes, failures, learnings, opportunities, etc. This has become an invaluable tool for me and my business.
     Coaching can have enormous value as a stand-alone strategy for
    developing leaders and their organizations.

     Many organizations are
    waking up to this critical point and are looking for leaders that
    understand the value of coaching. An increasing number of grant makers
    are incorporating coaching into leadership development and
    capacity-building programs for nonprofits to maximize the impact of
    these investments.

    There is  a clear link between individual development and improvements in organizational performance.

  • http://twitter.com/intldogooder How Matters

    As an informal practice or a formal program, I’ve found that mentoring can be an important and dynamic tool that grassroots organizations use to nurture and grow their programs, systems and people. Sharing guidelines to make them successful here: http://www.how-matters.org/2011/11/08/mentoring-local-organizations/

  • Marge Searing

    I love the quote. It really brings home how much one can get as well as give in a mentoring relationship. The key for the mentor is to remember to listen. Too often I think we forget as mentors how much we can learn from someone so different than we are. Whether it be age differences, cultural or whatever, the perspective the mentee has can be as informative and enriching as all the wisdom we mentors think we possess. And because of that mentoring is two way and therefore sustainable over the long term.

  • BonnieKoenig

    Desiree and Jennifer – thank you very much for sharing your experience and additional ideas and resources. 

    And to Marge, I want to give you a big public ‘thank you’ for being a very important mentor to me.