Waching daily Nov 27 2018

Hello, in this first video we are going to explain to you what is mentoring.

Before we get to the heart of the matter, we are going to take a little look at the history of mentoring.

This will then allow us to have a better understanding of its objectives, how it works and the benefits for both the mentor and mentee.

The History of Mentoring

First of all, do you know where the idea of a mentor comes from?

Mentoring was born from Greek mythology, during the legendary sagas of Iliad and Odyssey.

Mentor was the wise and experienced guide who was chosen by Ulysses,

who had left for the Trojan War, to take care of his son Telemachus' education.

Since this saga, history has seen several famous pairs of mentors-mentees.

Socrates who was Plato's mentor, Aristotle with Alexander the Great,

Flaubert with Maupassant and more recently Steve Jobs who mentored Mark Zuckerberg.

The role of a mentor has been present throughout the centuries and in all domains: from the world of politics and economics

to literary, scientific,

sporting and artistic fields.

In the 21st century, influenced by big companies,

mentoring has become more accessible in order to develop the most important of resources;

human capital.

This has allowed a larger number of people to be supported by a mentor to develop their potential.

The definition of mentoring

Now that you understand its origins, here is a definition of mentoring.

Mentoring is the professional support given to someone by a more experienced individual.

It is a trusting relationship based on listening and sharing experiences and knowledge which is sustainable in the long-term.

On the one side there is the mentor,

someone with rich experience and on the other side, there is the mentee, someone who is looking for someone to talk to, for advice

and support in order to develop both personally and professionally.

This relationship is created in a context which is both formal, determined by a methodology with rules and pedagogical objectives,

and also informal with a lack of hierarchy between the mentor and mentee.

And this is what makes this type of support so interesting. A mentor is not strictly a role model but

a guide who inspires,

encourages and accompanies, by seeing things from the mentee's perspective who they will support throughout different stages in their development.

But be careful, a mentor is not a coach. They are not an expert of personal and professional development

trained in support technics.

They do not have a specific qualification and are not focused on short-term goals.

They are not a tutor who works solely on the technical aspects of their expertise. Nor are they a guru who,

instead of the mentee, says what they should do and how they should think and act.

The benefits of Mentoring

Now let's look at the benefits of the mentor/mentee relationship

For the mentee it gives them a unique chance to:

Share their goals, doubts and fears in confidence with someone more experienced;

Benefit from an outside, benevolent perspective to look more objectively at their professional situation and therefore open themselves to new possibilities;

Get concrete advice, feedback about past experiences and personalized feedback over time to increase their skills;

And most importantly, feel supported and listened to in order to reach professional goals more smoothly.

For the mentor, it's the opportunity to:

Enhance their experience by sharing their knowledge, skills and the expertise that they have developed throughout their professional career;

Develop their people-skills, for example, how to listen, question and give feedback through their role as a mentor and therefore become a better leader;

Get some distance from their professional activity by exchanging with their mentee;

And most importantly, get a sense of satisfaction by helping to develop new talents.

As you may have realized, mentoring is a win/win relationship which benefits the mentor just as much as the mentee.

Conclusion

From this first video, we have been able to see that the promises that mentoring can offer are numerous.

To continue your introduction to mentoring, we now invite you to watch our second video about the superpowers

that a mentor must have.

"In life, you need to know what you want. You then have to be brave enough to say it. Lastly, you need to have the energy to do it." - George Clémenceau