Are you ready to be a mentor?

Mentoring provides development opportunities for mentors as well as great personal satisfaction. Being a mentor can improve your leadership skills and enable you to learn from alterative approaches and different ways of thinking. It can be challenging, inspiring and enlightening.

One mentor said that she had gained confidence by realising that she had knowledge and experience which was valuable to others.

Another mentor wrote: "I had a great sense of achievement seeing my mentee survive problems where I stumbled".

A mentor, working in a senior position, said that she had become more aware of problems within her sector.

The recruitment of good mentors is key to the success of the programme. We are always looking for family friendly women (and men) who would like to be mentors.

• Are you willing to help a woman develop and achieve success?
• Are you prepared to invest time and effort?
• Are you a good listener and able to encourage others?
• Are you interested in challenging and helping someone to reach further?
• Are you willing to share your personal knowledge and experiences?
• Can you keep matters confidential?

A mentor can be defined as 'an experienced and trusted adviser’. You don't have to be at the top of your profession to be a mentor. MentorSET expects a mentor to be a suitably experienced person who is willing to help another, less experienced in a given area, by acting as a guide.

The relationship between mentor and mentee should be personal and confidential, quite different and distinct from the relationship between superior and subordinate and without confidentiality the relationship is likely to remain superficial.

A good mentor will want to ensure that the mentee gains confidence and independence as a result of mentoring and is eventually able to go forward independently.

MentorSETs aim is to help women succeed in the area of SET. We recognise that women often have to balance work and responsibilities at home. The issues hampering progress at work may not be work related. Therefore, we provide mentors who are able to help women to achieve a life/work balance, to return after a career break or, in the case of a mentor who has suffered illness, to help women to cope with the difficulties faced during a long term illness or disability. It for these reasons that we ask about life skills and career breaks on the MentorSET questionnaire. Please think about experiences that you have had and are willing to share, if you have not already done so.

The mentor can provide coaching on interpersonal and organisational skills. Mentors can also provide a sounding board against which to bounce new ideas, clarify problems and suggest alternative working methods.

http://www.mentorset.org.uk/pages/mentor1.htm