Top
Tips
- Many effective senior women use mentors
- Check that a potential mentor has been trained – a skilled mentor
can offer more than an enthusiastic amateur
- You don’t need to be having problems to use a mentor, but if you do
have difficulties, mentorship is an efficient and effective way of overcoming
them.
-A mentor guides and supports you in developing opportunities and managing
problems-A good mentor won’t advise you – he or she will help
you find the right solution for yourself.
-Mentors and mentees usually meet face to face but sometimes may talk by phone
/ Skype / e-mail
Mentoring
The Benefits of Mentoring
Mentoring is a process whereby a mentor helps the mentee
in their personal and professional development. It is useful for both work
and non-work issues, and particularly at times of change, such as when settling
into a new post or taking on a new role. The mentor provides an informal and
confidential environment where opportunities, dilemmas and problems can be
addressed. A mentor might challenge assumptions, act as a sounding board,
with whom the mentee can discuss new ideas, help with networking, or coach
someone preparing for an event.
Each mentoring relationship is different. Some are intense and last over time,
whereas others are brief, and related to a specific situation. Good mentors
work in different ways, but in essence the mentor provides a ‘map’,
a framework which the mentor and mentee use to guide their discussions. The
mentor might support the mentee in exploring the situation, gathering information
and gaining insight, identifying different possibilities and approaches, reaching
a decision and taking action. The mentor is a facilitator or enabler for the
mentee, rather than a puzzle solver. It is not about patronage or giving advice;
a good mentor is trained for the role, rather than an enthusiastic amateur.
This process has been shown to have many benefits for the mentee. People who
use mentoring describe being more confident, better at problem solving and
change management, increased job satisfaction, better at dealing with relationships
& team working and improved personal effectiveness.
How MWF Can Help?
MWF campaigns for women doctors and medical students
to have access to mentoring. We are currently working to tap into existing
schemes as well as running some local schemes up of our own such as the one
for medical student members at the University of East Anglia. MWF is looking
to recruit mentoring champions from across the UK in different specialities,
working at different levels in primary and secondary care. If this is something
you would be interested in getting involved with please contact central office.
