Getting into the mentoring mindset

By ExecutiveBrief Staff

John Maxwell, leadership guru, brightens up the picture some more. The process of mentoring and learning is made more effective by the mentor’s integrity, he points out. According to Maxwell, how a mentor goes about life is already influencing others and affecting their choices. We learn best by example, he reaffirms.  To be a good mentor, we should do and say as we want others, especially those we wish to guide, do and say.

Integrity is the mentor’s guide so that his work is pure. Inspiration makes the mentor’s lot easier and, at the same time, more difficult. We reap what we sow, but we are not always aware from which seed the fruit grew. A deep sense of responsibility, therefore, must accompany the mentor’s work.

Formal and informal mentoring
The mentoring process could be both formal and informal. Formal mentorship has been around since antiquity—there’s Greek pederasty, in which an older man undertakes a boy protégé’s education and introduction into society (much abused and corrupted by the Romans), the guru-disciple tradition of Hinduism and Buddhism, discipleship as practiced in Judaism and Christianity, and apprenticeship under the medieval guild system.

Thus, we have examples of men who became great under the mentorship of other great individuals: Socrates and Plato; Plato and Aristotle; Aristotle and Alexander the Great. These days, we have Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, Ric Flair who took under his wing Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton; Batman and Robin; and Yoda and Luke Skywalker.

The last two examples are by fictional characters, but they sure do help make the idea of mentoring crystal clear.

Usually, formal mentorship refers to assigned relationships. Many organizations worldwide have mentoring programs as part of management and human resource development. However, everyone should take these principles to heart as anyone could unwittingly play mentor to impressionable minds: an older friend, your boss, a priest, a spiritual leader, etc. Informal mentorship has been around since the beginning.

In fact, it is more widespread, popular, and powerful (just take note of the popularity of showbiz idols and celebrities whose antics, fashion statement, and lifestyle are received as gospel truth by adoring fans).

The mentoring mindset
Supposedly, there’s nothing in it for the mentor—except perhaps the feeling of fulfillment over having a protégé succeed or develop as he or she should.  Also, certain individuals take to mentoring more effectively than others. To be a good mentor, it helps—a lot—if an individual is truly interested to invest time and effort for the development of others. Even this, though, may not be enough to qualify an individual as a suitable mentor. Are we into the mentoring mindset?—we must be responsible enough to ask ourselves this. And do we have the mentoring mindset?—we have to be discerning enough to answer this question.

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