Discussion: Post by Phoebe.

I need a Response to the below Statement.

This was a positive experience for both myself and my mentee. I have found that our communication was a huge contributing factor as to why we had the success we did. We took our time discussing her goals and her ideas as to what would work or what wouldn’t work at the beginning. We discussed her previous attempt and she thought the reason was that it did not work out at that time. We met consistently on a weekly basis, and I got her comfortable with using me as a resource during the week via phone and email. Our success really does boil down to a strong communication rapport that we built upon as the weeks went on. I would continue to use this same strategy moving forward. While not every mentorship will work in the same way, or the same schedule I think communication can sometimes be overlooked when it is an essential part of the success of the partnership; “…the ability of mentors to properly implement interpersonal communication and communication openness may give a significant impact on mentee outcomes…” (Ismail et. al., 2012). While I found success with the GROW model, I would not be opposed to trying additional models or implementing a few aspects of multiple models to find what I feel suits me and my mentees best. I wouldn’t necessarily stop one due to lack of progress, but I do think it is important to try them all to find what works before deciding. Our short-term goals have been achieved so far. We still have some goals out there, as well as long-term goals but having had experience in a similar situation myself, I do feel this time frame is working well for us.

Thank you,

Phoebe

Reference:

Ismail, A., Alias, A., & Amir, A. F. (2012). Mentors’ Communication Styles as Predictors of Mentees’ Academic Performance. Studies in Business & Economics, 7(3), 14–26.