Mentorship programs are sprouting like sunflowers. They aren’t new, but it seems that this year has brought a steady increase in inquiries from senior leaders – from sheriffs to nursing home administrators – about the best ways to promote mentorship in their organizations. Typically, they think in terms of organized programs. In fact, among the fourteen participants in Care Providers of Minnesota’s 2011 Leading 4 Life Leadership Fellowship Program, at least three have chosen to create mentorship programs as their individual projects.
All of the reasons, and most of the programs I have heard of, seem excellent. We want to build a network of strong, working relationships. We want junior workers to benefit from others’ experience, and senior workers to benefit from sharing that experience. We may want to bridge generational or cultural divides. So, we establish programs that push people together and encourage them to…do any number of things. These programs can yield great benefits for participants, and for organizations and broader communities. Good things happen. At the same time, leaders would do well to look for other, more organic ways to bring about those benefits, as well.
I grew up in the first generation of organized-recreation kids. We generally played our sports in park league, Little Leagues…even recess featured a standing kickball game, adult-supervised. This caused my late father to wax nostalgic, early and often, about the relative merits of sandlot sports : kid-generated street hockey, basketball, stickball, or whatever. Clearly, there are tradeoffs: adult supervision probably leads to faster, more even skill development and fewer black eyes, while kids learn different lessons by having their own fun (including some black eyes).
The same might be said of mentorships. As workplace interactions become less frequent and more intermediated (pls txt me tht), a bit of prompting and structure may grease the skids, promoting relationships which might not otherwise develop. By the same token, I’d hate to think of mentorship only in terms of structured programs or high-overhead relationships. There’s plenty of room for the pick-up games: the casual offers of assistance, and the connections and relationships that develop naturally.
One curmudgeonly note: whatever the program, there’s no need to use the term, “mentee.” First, it looks like a misspelling of manatee. Those beloved but endangered creatures have enough problems of their own. Second, our language already includes “protégée.” The accent marks are optional, and the meaning is perfectly clear. Harumph.
More to the point: mentorship programs all have the same intent, and we can learn from it: connect, in person as well as online. Get to know one someone newer or older, do some work together, go to coffee or happy hour. Then, participate in whatever programs make sense, too.
