When Odysseus, the King of Ithaca went to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusted the care of his kingdom to Mentor. Mentor served as the teacher and overseer of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. Therein after, every individual who dedicated their time for the prosperity of another individual’ s skills and proficiency was labeled a‘ mentor’.
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Today, mentors have evolved away from their mythological counterpart, to general places of our day-to-day life such as workplaces, schools or universities. These mentors take up a vast responsibility by showing a personal interest in helping an inexperienced person, by offering knowledge, insight, perspective, and wisdom to help someone become successful. Mentors are very often described as a role model, a coach or a confidante.
Toastmasters International adopt the concept of mentoring in order to help new members achieve their targets. New members join a Toastmasters Club to improve their language skills and leadership attributes and thereby achieve better positions in their careers. It is the responsibility of each club to help their members reach such targets. This could be harnessed by influencing the rate of their participation in club activities and familiarizing new members with the resources available for them. The mentor can use his expertise to help their mentee become familiar with the CC( Competent Communicator) and CL( Competent Leader) manuals, club meetings, and its members. The mentor can also take up the challenge of coaching the new members to complete the manuals and to offer a level of increased self-confidence to the mentee.
The benefits of mentoring could be discussed from three different perspectives; the mentor, the mentee and the club. The mentor is open to an opportunity where he oe she can learn new information and polish up his or her mentoring skills by undertaking the responsibility of a new member. Apart from that, the mentor gains the reputation
of a generous individual who had helped another human being for nothing in return. More or less, a good mentor will always receive the gratitude of his / her mentee for the guidance provided.
On the other hand, the benefits for a mentee are infinite and is the central foci of the mentoring process. In order to assure that such benefits are achieved, it is important to ensure that the mentor possesses a certain set of qualities.
Be available for your mentee;
The mentee needs your time. It is important that you allocate at least 15 minutes of your time to your mentee each week and sit with them to discuss about their speeches and other opportunities.
Have Patience; As different people learn at different speeds they need different levels of attention and advice. It is important that a mentor understands this and dedicates adequate time and effort to the mentee as required.
Be Sensitive; As a mentor it is important that you phrase your advice in an encouraging way and not intimidate your mentee in doing so. A new member will need your encouragement in order to believe and trust in himself or herself.
Be Respectful; The mentor must learn to respect the differences between himself or herself and the mentee, as well as others in an unbiased manner.
Be Flexible; There will be instances when plans might take a different turn. The mentor has to maintain a mindset where he or she can adopt to different circumstances that are bound to come up.
Be Supportive; Communicate the essence of each club and how members can be benefitted from it.
Be Knowledgeable; It is ideal that you have gained a wide experience before