The Importance of Mentorship

I do not come from a culture where there existed an effective teaching & learning environment. This is one fact, I like to disclose before I talk on its importance. Always, I had a vague feeling but could not grasp its true meaning, there is something missing in our system of teaching and learning in a country,where the socio - political landscape was in utter chaos. It is only through mixture of failure and success, and lots of professional dilemmas that I have now realized the importance of Mentorship, which can be understood as "a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. For those of us, whose early career started from organizations in low income settings, we need to be aware that we need to work hard to understand what it means to excel and rise up the ladder in international organizations in developed countries. Working for a couple of years, "learning by doing", through not knowing initially and even being in "awkward & sometime in dumb" situations, we can now share and guide each other what can be the best way to survive in competitive environment at international organization(s) .

A published article defines the term mentorship in a more clarity - "Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé)."

Source: www.google.com

Some people say "experience", I like to call the term here as "learning by doing", which characterizes persistence and diligence in what we do. Therefore, it is in the combination of both "learning by doing" and "mentorship", our professional career and expertise can grow and in turn, we can contribute in what we do to the fullest. This is simply a "win - win" situation for both the mentor and the protégé. So, let us dissect a bit more what may constitute the act of "mentoring".

1. Motivation: It is only a motivated person who can literally "move the mountain". This is age old wisdom. Without motivation, we can't even do a piece of work like cycling daily for your health.
2. Inspiration: Somebody said, " To be inspired is great, to Inspire is incredible". This quote tells all, what it means to work in an positive energy filled environment, where you feel positively charged everyday and has an environment to feed your neocortex with vitamins of fresh new "doable" idea(s).
3. Vision: Vision is like guiding star in the distance, we aim to reach there because our action is focused. Sometime, we may have new ideas and very much motivated but not focused not knowing where we want to reach. Therefore, the lack of direction may shake our very foundation of our action.
4. Lead by example: This is very important for us. It is only through leading by example that we can make things happen, we can inspire your juniors, your credibility will be revered. Fundamental is "Do what you say"
5. Team work: This is can be exemplified by the recent world cup final result. The German team was victorious and they deserved. The only reason they won the game was purely the team work.

Finally, it is only in team work, the team that is guided by vision which continually inspire and motivate their "diverse" staffs, there can flower the culture of mentorship, where "leading by example" is the hallmark of "smart" organization.