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another and the conversation helps move him or her forward. 2) Situational mentoring is usually short-lived and happens for a specific purpose because something has come up that re- quires consultation. 3) Supervisory mentoring is that gained from one’s supervisor. It is very important, but there are some drawbacks: ❚ ❚ The supervisor may not be a “subject matter expert” in the topic at hand. ❚ ❚ Supervisors are often very busy and they may not be able to devote equal time to all supervisees. ❚ ❚ Some people are not comfortable exhibiting vulnerabilities in front of their supervisors for fear that it will negatively affect their performance evaluations. 4) Formal mentorship is the focus of this article. Reviewing the mentoring relationship: 1) Plan to commit to a one-year partnership. It takes a while to develop the trust and rapport necessary to begin working on identifying goals and an action plan to achieve them. 2) Plan to discuss a “no-fault” termination clause, in which ei- ther party can back out if it’s not working for her or him. 3) Plan to have a six-month check-in to evaluate how it’s evolv- ing for each person. 4) Monitor the necessary training needs that emerge and make them happen on a systemic level. The most knowledgeable people are not necessarily the most communicative. Mentorship training programs help to discover who is best suited to the role and will provide them the techniques and skills to fulfill the requirements. It also should include a thoughtful process of how best to pair mentors and mentees. GERRI KING, Ph.D., is a founding partner and president of Human Dynamics Associates Inc., in Concord, New Hampshire. For more information, visit gerriking.com. “Mentors can help the mentee figure out what they need to do to fill in the gaps between where they are now and where they want to be in the future.” “Everyone is ultimately responsible for her or his own career, but it can be very helpful to have someone to talk to who can provide a listening ear and share what has helped him or her over the years.”

GERRI KING, from page 9

develop an Individual Career Development Plan in order for her or him to achieve short and long term goals. 5)This is the tough one: they should be willing to share their failures as well as their successes. It is sometimes said that the benefit of a mentoring relationship is to help someone learn from mistakes without having to experience them. How does the mentor benefit? 1) Mentors get a chance to pass on their institutional wisdom. 2) Mentors have an opportunity to practice their interpersonal and management skills outside the usual hierarchical relation- ship. 3) Mentors often become recognized as positive role models and are sometimes sought out by others. 4) Many find that being in a mentoring partnership helps them expand their own horizons and keeps them in touch with what’s going on in other areas of the organization. 5) Mentors often insist that they gain as much, if not more, from the mentoring partnership than their mentee does. “Many find that being in a mentoring partnership helps them expand their own horizons and keeps them in touch with what’s going on in other areas of the organization.” What are the mentee’s responsibilities? 1) Mentees must be willing to learn. 2)They must be able to accept constructive feedback. 3) Mentees must be willing to “stretch” and try new things and take risks. 4)They must be able to identify short and long-range career goals and accept that those goals may change. What does the mentee get out of it? 1) Everyone is ultimately responsible for her or his own career, but it can be very helpful to have someone to talk to who can provide a listening ear and share what has helped him or her over the years. 2) Mentors can provide valuable direction and clarification at times of confusion or doubt. 3) Mentors can help the mentee figure out what they need to do to fill in the gaps between where they are now and where they want to be in the future. 4) Mentors can provide alternative perspectives. What are the different types of mentoring? 1) Natural mentoring is when one person is casually talking with

TALK TO US Do you have an interesting story to tell? Is your company doing things differently and getting results? Let us know. We’d love to contact you and feature you in an upcoming case study. If interested, please email rmassey@zweiggroup.com.

THE ZWEIG LETTER October 3, 2016, ISSUE 1170

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