Assignment: Self-Reflection Log
During your coaching and mentoring experience, you are required to complete a self-reflection log of your experiences and obstacles. This log will be a helpful component to evaluating and modifying the overall coaching/mentoring experience. Please respond to each response with a minimum of 100 words.
Topic 1:
1. Describe how you will use your personal qualities to contribute to your coaching or mentoring abilities. Some of my personal qualities I will contribute to coaching or mentoring my mentee are communication, approachability, compassion, fairness, ability to listen. These qualities will help me and my mentee establish a relationship where my mentee will be able to approach me with any situation or problem she might have knowing I will not judge her but assist her in any way I can in helping her achieve her goals. The desire to succeed can be overwhelming for a senior in high school; dealing with peer pressure; and the feeling of leaving to go off to college.
2. How do these qualities serve as a value to your mentee? These qualities will serve as a value to my mentee as she progress through her senior year and hopefully she will see my qualities and adapt them as her own and utilize them throughout her life. As I communicate with my mentee I will be clear of the things that was taught to me from my mentor. I will make my mentee feel comfortable approaching me for advice and consultation. I want my mentee to feel comfortable approaching me with any situation, being open with your mentor brings value to your mentee mentor relationship.
3. How do you establish trust with your family? With your friends? With your coworkers? Is this an important factor to establish in the mentor/mentee relationship? Trust is a funny word it takes a lot for me to trust my family, associates, and co-workers. I work with a certain level of trust in each situation, with my family you need to be loyal to me in order for me to trust you, I do not have any friends, I have associates to establish trust with me through this bunch it is not reachable. With my co -workers trust is gained through me in an ethical way at work. For example, if a co-worker sees another co-worker violating a safety rule and do not report it, to me I cannot trust that co-worker.
Topic 2:
1. What personal qualities do you prefer in those individuals you seek to coach or mentor? Are there different qualities more suitable for coaching than mentoring or the vice-versa?
The personal qualities I prefer in my mentee is commitment my mentee needs to be a full partner in the mentoring or coaching process; flexibility in a mentee and mentor relationship it takes time to develop so there needs to be two way communication, I will need my mentee to listen and consider new options; openness I will need my mentee to know he/she can discuss their needs and objectives. My mentee will also need to listen and except different point of views before making any rash decisions.
2. How difficult is it to select a person to coach or mentorwho possesses the qualities for which you are looking? What could you do in your workplace to identify potential mentee opportunities? It is very difficult to select someone with the qualities I am looking for in a mentee. I usually mentor or coach high school students, and it is very hard to find the qualities in these millennials. It is hard for them to focus because of social media, most of these high school seniors you cannot talk to because they think they know everything, In the workplace what I could do is suggest a mentoring and coaching program to see if any employees would like to partake in a mentee mentor relationship.
3. How do you decipher goals that are short-term verses long-term? As you are working with your mentee, how do you guide the mentee through developing short-term and long-term goals that would meet the mentee's vision?
Topic 3:
1. Reflect on two coaching techniques selected to support the short-term and long-term goals of your mentee. Why were these techniques selected and how can they help your mentee achieve success?
One technique that I use that my mentees struggle responding to is collaboration. In an article about collaboration it states that collaboration is the key element for success when working with one or more people (Villa, 2017). This is why I am using collaboration with my mentees. It is natural to feel uncomfortable when collaborating with others, especially when it is about something personal. When my mentees start to feel uncomfortable I make sure I am going everything I can to make them feel comfortable again.
All the other techniques I use my mentees have responded very well too. They love when I push them and use motivational coaching. It actually makes them work even harder to accomplish their goals. They also love using peer coaching to get feedback on what they can improve on. And they also love that I encourage excellence because it has pushed them to reach some of their goals.
2. Reflect on two mentoring techniques selected to support the short-term and long-term goals of your mentee. Why were these techniques selected and how can they help your mentee achieve success?
According to Grace (2014), mentorship is critical because it drives growth and success in others. It helps to improve performance while offering fulfilling rewards to both mentor and mentees alike. The mentoring technique that I have applied thus far is more of a strategy and a technique but it is efficient. My mentee is a visual learner so I use different situations or scenarios to aid in the mentoring process. I have orchestrated two scenarios to expose my mentee's self-confidence level and how she handles herself around other. One scenario was created in a group setting (lunch with colleagues) while the other was in a one-on-one setting (interview with a colleague). However, the role that I played in both scenarios was that of a silent observer.
References
Grace, M. (2014). Coaching and Mentoring for Business. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
3. How did you decide which technique(s) to use with your mentee? How do these techniques account for both your and your mentee's values and beliefs? What ethical considerations did you have to account for in developing your Individual Development Plan?
Topic 4:
1. How important is the Individual Development Plan in meeting the goals of your mentee?
After establishing what your mentee needs through the assessment; the mentor will sit down with the mentee and formalize and agree upon an Individual Development Plan. This process is important because it allows the mentee to update and summarize in each area of the IDP, identifying challenges and barriers as well as new goals that needs to be accomplished by developing an action plan. The IDP is important also because it helps the mentee and mentor keep track of the goals being accomplished, as a mentor this plan is important for the mentee to stay focus on completing her short and long term goals.
2. List a minimum of three activities you could present to your mentee. Reflect on your decision to use these activities to meet the vision for your mentoring experience. To meet the vision for the mentoring experience I would ask my mentee to describe the tentative goals that are a part of their vision, help them take steps towards what they would like to do. Another activity I would suggest to my mentee to work on her soft skills to leverage or build on; another activity I would engage my mentee to is introducing her to two people who could be helpful to her in the IT area.
3. How could you incorporate leadership skills into your mentoring experience that demonstrate kindness, compassion, and the good of the organization and the community?
4. How do you distinguish between coaching activities and mentoring activities? Label your activities as either coaching or mentoring opportunities.
Topic 5:
1. How can coaching activities benefit the culture in your work environment? Is it beneficial to develop activities individually or as a group activity? How can you leverage on an individual's knowledge, strength, and skills to create a positive outcome for the individual and work environment?
2. Describe the follow-up schedule you will use with your mentee. Does it support the activities listed in the Individual Development Plan? Does it require modifications or adjustments? Explain.
3. Are there ethical considerations (e.g., culture, religion, personal beliefs, etc.) that must be considered when preparing activities for an Individual Development Plan? Discuss potential considerations and how to ensure you have developed an experience that meets the needs of your particular mentee.
Topic 6:
1. Discuss possible strategies to hold your mentees accountable for the activities and to reach both short-term and long-term goals. How can these strategies support the growth process?
2. Reflect on the evaluation and observation process of the mentoring experience. Discuss the importance of evaluating your mentees prior to setting goals. What advantages and disadvantages come with the evaluation and observation process?
Topic 7:
1. As a mentor, how do you feel about the progress your mentee made toward the achievement of the goals?
2. How does your mentee feel about the progress made toward the achievement of the goals?
Topic 8:
1. In a brief reflection (250-500 words), discuss the feedback you received on your Mentor Evaluation. Reflect on the development of your Individual Development Plan, its success, and the results for your mentee. Was this process rewarding? What were your strengths and weaknesses as a mentor? If you had it to do over again, what specific elements would you change? If you wouldnot change anything, explain why?