To be supportive and developmental.
To provide experience-based advice and support.
Personal and confidential in nature, so that the Mentee may be open about any possible difficulties experienced. A relationship based on trust is vital.
To act as an experienced and trusted advisor in support of the professional development of Chapter Presidents and Officers (mentees) as well as to offer suggestions for conflict resolution.
To act as an experienced and trusted advisor in support of the organizational development of APICS Chapters in the Pacific Western District.
Deliberate learning is the cornerstone. The mentor's job is to promote intentional learning, which includes capacity building through methods such as instructing, coaching, profiding experiences, modeling and advising.
Both failure and success are powerful teachers. Mentors, as leaders of a learning experience, certainly need to share their "how to do it so it comes out right" stories. They also need to share their experiences of failure, ie., "how I did it wrong". Both types of stories are powerful lessons that provide valuable opportunities for analyzing individual and organizational realities.
Mentors need to tell their stories. Personal scenarios, anedcotes and case examples, because they offer valuable, often unforgettable insight, must be shared. Mentors who can talk about themselves and their experiences establish a rapport that makes them "learning leaders."
Development matures over time. Mentoring -- when it works -- taps into continuous learning that is not an event, or even a string of discrete events. Rather, it is the synthesis of ongoing events, experiences, observation, studies, and thoughtful analyses.
Mentoring is a joint venture. Successful mentoring means sharing responsibility for learning. Regardless of the facilities, the subject matter, the timing, and all other variables. Successful mentoring begins with setting a contract for learning around which the mentor, the mentee (protégé), and their respective line managers are aligned.
