workability
Mentoring matters
Anureet Sibia Dhillon

Mentoring is a word that is used commonly, but for a student or beginner in any profession it holds a special meaning. A mentor is an adviser, a counsellor, guide and tutor who is in a close and individualised relationship with the mentee and can be trusted, come what may.

A mentor has many facets. As an adviser, he is helpful in career planning and experience sharing. He provides immense emotional and moral encouragement as a supporter. He provides constructive criticism and necessary feedback as a tutor. He provides information and opportunity and serves as a sponsor. Last but not the least, he serves as a role model and a constant source of inspiration. There are various ways in which a mentor can influence the life and career of his ward. Broadly, his role extends to:

Career development: A mentor can provide advice in career planning, impart coaching, assist in problem solving (personal and technical), give challenging assignments and sponsorship.

Emotional support: A mentor serves as a friend, role model, counsellor, protector, stress reducer and referral agent (where to find help).

Personality profile

The requisites of a good mentor are that he should be capable of taking risk, be trustworthy, knowledgeable, influential, emotionally stable and committed to a cause.

A good mentor should leave no stone unturned in helping his protege to acquire and learn new skills. He should be at the forefront in motivating and providing such training that helps the student to meet challenges head-on and not be scared of taking on difficult assignments. As an offshoot of this, the protege is likely to see an increase in his self- confidence and promote his reputation, thereby building self-esteem and a stronger character.

The mentor must always tell the protege what he expects from him and make him stretch to the limit so that he can have a full appraisal of his potential.

It is also important for a protege to realise the good effort put in by the mentor. A good protege must have his goals set and must stay committed and focused on them. He must have realistic expectations and be proactive towards meeting his desired objectives. He must be clear about his responsibilities and the self-discipline that would be required in order to realise his potential. A protege should know how to take the good with the bad and must receive criticism in a healthy way and learn from it. The most important thing is to be practical and realise that the only thing constant in any meticulously plan is change and change is natural. He should be able to develop a work plan and work out his goals, short-term as well as long-term. He must be a strict disciplinarian and work to a set time-frame and constantly keep updating his progress.

Whenever in doubt, the mentee must not hesitate to fall back upon the good advice of his mentor. He must realise his boundaries and limits and respect those of all the others he works and interacts with. The key to success is professionalism and one must always work in keeping with the highest traditions of professionalism and workmanship.