Mentor Training Program

Introductions• name• organisation and role• who has influenced you the most?• what motivates you to become a mentor?• what are your expectations of today?

What is mentoring? “Behind every successful person, there is one

elementary truth: somewhere, somehow, someone cared about their growth and development. This person was their mentor.”

Dr Beverley Kaye, Up is Not the Only Way, 1997

Mentor = Trusted friend or advisor

however,

“A mentor provides information, shares their experience or expresses an opinion. However it is always the mentee that decides, acts and produces outcomes”

Anne Rolfe, Synergistic People Development

How does mentoring work in your sport?

• Does it occur formally or informally?• How are mentors and mentees matched up?• What are the roles and responsibilities of

mentors?• What are the benefits forthe mentor, mentee and

sport?

Purpose of mentoring

• professional development• accreditation• updating• fast tracking• others

Adult Learning Principles

• Autonomous and self-directed

• Life experiences and prior knowledge

• Goal-oriented

• Relevancy-oriented

• Practical

• Need to be shown respect

Learning stylesVisual

They like:

Graphs, charts, mind maps/flow charts and images.

Auditory

They like:

Discussion groups, questions, audio recordings, key points and cue words.

Read/write

They like:

Lists, headings, written cue words/phrases.

Kinaesthetic

They like:

Demonstrations, doing the activity, learning by experiencing, video feedback, visualisation.

www.vark-learn.com

Characteristics of mentees• Mentee 1 - is in awe of mentor, not confident, wants

the mentor to tell them what to do, struggles to self reflect and drive things.

• Mentee 2 - is very confident, thinks they know it all and wants to argue with the feedback from the mentor, mentor has difficulty relating to the mentee.

• Mentee 3 - is very hard working, but very tough on themselves, ‘beats themself up’ mentally if they make a mistake, high achieving and a stress head.

The mentoring process

Review

Identify needs Set Goals

Action plan Feedback Observation

Establish an agreement

Getting started – The first meeting

How would you approach the following:

• Building rapport, trust and empathy

• Identifying needs and setting goals

• Establishing ground rules

• Developing an agreement

The mentoring process

Review

Identify needs Set Goals

Action plan Feedback Observation

Establish an agreement

Mentoring in action• Who set the goals for the session?• Where did the mentor position herself?• How and when did the mentor provide

feedback to the mentee?• What was the outcome?• How does observationand feedback occur inyour sport?

The mentoring process

Identify needs

Review

Set Goals

Action planning FeedbackMeetings and observations

Establish an agreement

Identify needs Set Goals

Action plan Feedback Observation

Establish an agreement

Facilitating feedback

• How did the mentor establish rapport?• What questions did the mentor use to help

the mentee self-reflect?• How did the mentor show they were

attentive and interested?• How was the action plan developed? Were

the next steps clear?• If there was conflict, how did the mentor

deal with it?

Planning a difficult conversation

• What outcome are you hoping to achieve?• Identify the emotions the mentor and

mentee may be feeling• How would you start the conversation?• What questions could you ask to challenge

assumptions and perceptions?• What behaviours would you like to display?• How will you defuse conflict if it occurs?

The self reflection process

Action

Identification of things to improve

Planning for improvement

Analysis and evaluation

Summary• Mentoring enhances the coach/official education

process• Effective mentors facilitate learning• Mentoring is a two-way process that benefits both

the mentor and mentee• Taking the time to set up the mentoring

relationship at the start is important for it’s long term success

• Providing effective feedback is a critical skill for all mentors

Thank you

Good luck with your mentoring