{"id":704,"date":"2015-03-20T22:04:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T22:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/?p=704"},"modified":"2016-01-15T02:12:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T02:12:00","slug":"mentoring-what-to-keep-in-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/mentoring-what-to-keep-in-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentoring: what to keep in mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s note: Mentoring has become one of the preferred ways of supporting think tanks. The Think Tank Initiative launched a capacity developing programme that placed mentors at its core. And we have been actively\u00a0promoting mentoring with think tanks<\/a>, including\u00a0peer to peer support<\/a>\u00a0and using\u00a0mentoring as an alternative to managing\u00a0<\/a>research. This post was written by\u00a0Kirsty McNeill\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0first published on WonkComms<\/a>. Kirsty McNeill is a strategy consultant to some of the world\u2019s leading campaigning organisations and a former Downing Street adviser. She tweets @kirstyjmcneill.\u00a0If you are interested in think tank communications then you\u00a0should follow WonkComms.]<\/em><\/p>\n

There has been some appetite from the WonkComms community to explore mentoring for up and coming communications staff and a few of us got together last week to discuss what a semi-structured programme might look like. I was really pleased to speak alongside\u00a0Christine Megson<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Mentoring Programme of the Fabian Women\u2019s Network<\/a>\u00a0(you can read more about their impact\u00a0here<\/a>) and\u00a0Genevieve Dawson<\/a>\u00a0of Campaign Bootcamp (please direct future campaign stars to apply\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The session was aimed at comms staff in think tanks but hopefully these lessons can be applied by others hoping to become brilliant mentors, or recruit them. My starting point was clarity of purpose \u2013 what problem are we trying to solve? Is it one best solved by coaching, mentoring or sponsorship? For background on why the difference matters, there\u2019s a great introduction in the Harvard Business Review to the idea that\u00a0all mentoring is not created equal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The distinctions are disputed and plenty of you will have your own views about the lines I\u2019ve drawn here, but as a starter here\u2019s a quick way of thinking about the difference I introduced yesterday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Coach<\/strong><\/td>\nMentor<\/strong><\/td>\nSponsor<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shares skills.<\/td>\nShares insights.<\/td>\nShares power.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Task oriented \u2013 concerned with news ways of doing.<\/td>\nDevelopment oriented \u2013 concerned with news ways of thinking, seeing and being.<\/td>\nPromotion oriented \u2013 concerned with redistributing power and status.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Often short term.<\/td>\nOften long term.<\/td>\nOften medium term.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Need not be from your particular sector.<\/td>\nNormally from your sector or a closely related one.<\/td>\nNormally from your organisation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Status differential not intrinsic to the relationship.<\/td>\nExperience differential intrinsic to the relationship.<\/td>\nPower differential absolutely crucial to the relationship.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

If mentoring is definitely what\u2019s needed, here are seven tips for getting it right:<\/p>\n