According to Wikipedia, Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction a mentor(giver) provides to a mentee(receiver). A mentor teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person(mentee).
In an many settings, a mentor influences a mentee’s personal and professional growth. Mentorship should be provided for everyone at every level. These should include students at all levels, ensuring intentional grooming and guidance. Grassroots stakeholders should also be deliberately included. The mentors have the opportunity to lead the future generation in an area they care about. They ensure that best practices, their wealth of wisdom, and experience are passed along. Mentees be ready to take the next step in their career and life and are ready to receive the extra help needed to make advancement.
TELL YOUR STORIES AS A MENTOR
Storytelling is a profound way to connect, inspire and motivate others. It also encourages and gives an idea of the road beyond the map. The sharing of experience is essential in any mentoring relationship. It can be illuminated with stories to help a mentee navigate their chosen. Research by Jennifer Aaker of Stanford Business School shows that stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts or figures alone.
Stories also trigger the release of a neurochemical called oxytocin, known in some circles as the happiness hormone. It was discovered through the work of neuroscientists like Dr. Paul Zak, that stories trigger the release of oxytocin in much the same enables you to show humility and to relate to people in real terms. You demonstrate that you understand their issues by sharing your experience, wants, and all thereby building rapport and trust.
IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLING
Storytelling helps you highlight the meaning and importance of ideas, suggestions, and opportunities. Sharing the consequences and payoffs of taking or not taking action helps them move forward in their decision-making.
They are also very powerful in creating memorable impressions and vivid images. By helping people visualize what’s possible, you create an emotional connection that can alter beliefs and change mindsets.
People find stories very engaging and inspirational because they can put themselves into the situations described. They are also powerful persuasion tools, empowering people to take action. By taking them on an engaging and inspirational journey, you help them identify specific steps they can take to make progress.
They also help to answer tricky questions. By explaining what happened in a situation, you can provide a “real” answer rather than a conceptual or hypothetical one.
For stories to achieve the objective of contributing to someone’s personal or professional development, it is essential to select the right story. It must be relevant to the context, like their needs, situation, challenges, or obstacles they wish to overcome. Stories should also highlight every phase of a journey giving people/mentees a full side view of the road. There should also always be a moral to the story, which is the message that generates learning.
BECOME A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL
Human beings are shaped primarily by human interactions and social connections. we define our identities through relationships with each other. Our need for belonging makes us keen to assimilate into the groups we are part of. Mentees can learn by observing and learning from the words and actions of a mentor. They can pick up on behaviors and modes of interaction just by watching and observing. To set the younger generation on the right path; it is important to show more than tell how things should be done. For young people, role models show passion for their work and have the capacity to infect others with that passion. Role models live their values in the world. Young people admire people who act in ways that support their beliefs. It helps them understand how their values are part of who they are and how they might seek fulfilling roles.
As Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome.” Young people echoed this sentiment, showing how they developed the skills and abilities of initiative when they learned to overcome obstacles. Not surprisingly, they admire people who show them that success is possible.
You can also show humility in positive situations, meaning that you don’t let success make you forget about the overall picture. This can be the downfall of many mentors, who push for success over learning experiences. A mentee can see this happening and allow themselves to go down a path filled with half-earned successes. If you too have been down this path, explain to your mentee how you learned from it and what you would do differently. Sharing your learning experience is a sign of both a good mentor and a positive role model.
REMOVE UNCOMFORTABLE POWER DYNAMICS
Power dynamics are the balance — or lack of balance — between two or more people. Power dictates the structure of all personal and professional relationships.
Power dynamics in mentoring relationships can inhibit the success of the relationship. Young people in mentoring relationships with profoundly powerful and successful individuals should Be patient, Engage in open communication, and Be mature and respectful when giving and receiving criticism. Remembering your motives for pursuing an opportunity should be a motivation for striving to maintain the relationship.
Research into biases shows that stereotypes and assumptions can be harmful in mentoring due to a phenomenon called “stereotype threat.” implicit bias affects the way people interact with each other and undermines mentorship opportunities, especially with females. Breaking down the power dynamics is important if we must help each other and truly cause change.
Mentorship should be born out of love for the younger generation and the desire to give them leverage for the future based on your experiences. Providing mentorship looks very promising due to the advent of digital technology. Beyond the euphoria of having or being a mentor, intentional grooming cannot be achieved just by liking or following social media pages. the actual transference of wisdom gained from experience amongst other things is paramount. Great and intentional mentors are proof that tomorrow is secure.
