What is mentoring?

MENTORING IS A RELATIONSHIP BUILT AROUND YOU

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Mentoring is a collaborative relationship shaped around you, your situation, your questions and your development. It is a space to think, reflect and explore. We can look at what is happening from different perspectives, question assumptions, consider possibilities and explore what could make sense for you.

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You bring your own experience, knowledge and perspective. I bring mine. Together, we use both to broaden your awareness, expand your choices and develop your capability to move forward.

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A TWO WAY RELATIONSHIP

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Mentoring is not a lecture. It is a conversation.

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You know your own life, experience and situation better than anyone else. You bring your perspective, your questions and your understanding of what matters to you.​​

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I bring my experience, knowledge and perspective. Sometimes I will ask. Sometimes I will challenge. Sometimes I will share an experience or offer a different perspective. When it can add value, I may also offer advice.

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We work together. Your life is yours. The decisions remain yours.

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MORE THAN QUESTIONS

Mentoring is not about having all the answers.

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Good mentoring is not about telling you what to do. It is about creating the right conditions for you to think more clearly, understand the situation more fully, explore possibilities and see choices you may not have considered before. I may ask questions. I may challenge your assumptions. I may share something I have learned from experience or offer a different perspective. When it can add value, I may also offer advice.

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The important question is not whether I have the answer. It is whether our conversation helps you understand more, see more and decide what you want to do next.

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MENTORING AND COACHING

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Mentoring and coaching have much in common. Both create space for reflection, learning and development. Both rely on listening, questioning and thoughtful conversation.

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One important difference is what the practitioner brings to the relationship.

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Coaching primarily helps you explore your own thinking and discover your own answers. Mentoring can do this too, while also bringing the mentor's relevant experience, knowledge and perspective into the conversation. 

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COACHING

Explore what.

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Develop awareness, thinking and capabilities through skilled questioning and reflection.

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MENTORING

Explore what and how.

Explore possibilities, perspectives and approaches with someone who can also draw on relevant experience, knowledge and perspective. 

These are not rigid boundaries. A good mentoring relationship can include coaching, just as coaching may involve observations, feedback or other approaches. What matters is understanding which approach best serves the situation.

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A RELATIONSHIP BUILT ON TRUST

Great mentoring requires more than experience. It requires presence, openness, respect and trust. ​You need a space where you can speak openly, explore difficult questions, challenge your own thinking and consider possibilities without fear of judgement.

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You decide what you want to share. You do not have to share anything you would rather keep private.

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Confidentiality is not an extra feature of the relationship. It is part of its foundation.

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HIGHLY PERSONALISED

Every person brings a different life, different experiences and different questions. The relationship, the focus and the way we work are therefore shaped around you.

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There is no standard path to follow. What we explore, how we explore it and where the conversation takes us depends on what you need.

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You may come with a specific question, a difficult decision or a situation you cannot quite make sense of. Or you may simply know that something needs to change without yet knowing exactly what.

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The mentoring relationship adapts to you.

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MENTORING EXPANDS POSSIBILITIES

One of the most valuable things mentoring can do is expand the possibilities you can see.

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A situation that initially appears to have only one possible response may look very different when viewed from another perspective. Together, we can explore:

• Who are you becoming?

• What do you really want?

• What needs to change?

• What would a more balanced life look like for you?

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And sometimes, the most important question is simply: 

What are you not seeing yet?

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The aim is not for me to make your decisions for you, but to help you see more possibilities and find the way that feels right for you.

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FROM REFLECTION TO ACTION

Mentoring is not simply about having interesting conversations. Reflection becomes valuable when it changes what you see, how you think or what you do.

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The purpose of our work is therefore not only to understand a situation differently, but to help you turn that understanding into meaningful action.

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You may leave a session with greater clarity, a different perspective, a decision made, a new approach to a challenge, or simply a better understanding of what needs to happen next.

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THE GOAL IS INDEPENDENCE

The goal of mentoring is not dependence. It is independence.

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My role is to help you develop the awareness, clarity, confidence and capability to make your own decisions and move forward independently.

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I believe in people before they necessarily believe in themselves. 

When the time is right, I let go.