Mentee Introduction

We’re glad you are interested in having a mentor. Here is some more information to help you decide if this is for you.

What is a Mentor ?

A mentor is a ‘critical friend’ who can get to know you, listen carefully to you, ask searching questions and help you on your journey They help you explore issues, sometimes offer suggestions but let you decide what to do. Your mentor will be an experienced leader, but not necessarily in a similar role to yourself.

Mentoring is a powerful and biblical way of developing Christian leaders in mission. There are many biblical examples such as Paul and Timothy, Moses and Joshua.

Mentoring is a medium-term relationship where you as mentee have help, support, and a ‘critical friend’ to work through the key issues you face in leadership and mission. It is an opportunity to help you as you make significant transitions and grow your ministry, gifts and skills. Our approach to mentoring is non-directive, so mentors will help you find your own solutions, rather than them telling you what to do. When appropriate, they will be happy to offer suggestions. Our approach is off-line, your mentor will be someone outside your own organisation.

Crucially you, as the mentee, will be driving this relationship, by setting the agenda in terms of the goals you want to achieve, issues you want to work through and arranging the sessions. Your mentor will help you clarify goals, explore options, offering advice and supporting you in your decision making.

What is the scope of Mentoring ?

Based on the pilot scheme, we have widened the scope to cover skills development, current issues as well as leadership growth and development.

Often immediate issues need to be addressed first before a person is able to contemplate direction, development and vision.

Often a mentor’s network of contacts can be a valuable resource for the mentoring process. For example, your mentor may not have experience of producing a project funding proposal, but may know someone who has and who is happy to provide some help to you.

What attitudes, skills and experience do I need to be a Mentee ?

Attitudes

• willing and open to change
• willing to explore issues
• willing to receive and carefully consider feedback
• willing to be open and honest with their mentor
• willing to give time and space to reflect on the process and implement agreed actions
• committed to growing themselves, their leadership gift, spiritual development and skills
• willing to commit wholeheartedly to the mentoring process and pro-actively drive the relationship in terms of agenda and arranging meetings.

Skills

• fluent English speaker

Experience

• you are a Christian leader in mission (primarily working outside the church rather than ministry inside the church to the congregation)
• you are an ‘emerging’ leader, likely to be in your first or second full time leadership position in mission [please contact us before registering if you consider yourself an emerging leader but are not in your first or second leadership position]
• you are a committed Christian

How could I benefit from being a Mentee ?

• develop your knowledge, skills and capability in leadership
• opportunity for a safe space to explore and grow my leadership
• value of talking issues through with a more experienced leader
• developing an on-going relationship so you can journey together
• get an independent view on your situation and your culture
• help develop your network through advice and contacts

What support will I have ?

Your primary support with be from your mentor. If you do encounter problems, always discuss these first with your mentor. If together you are not able to solve them, then you can contact Nigel Daly, the project co-ordinator. Normally your mentor will do this, although in exceptional circumstances you can.

What commitment do I need to be a Mentee ?

• Arranging and participating in a mentoring session every 4-6 weeks, typically via skype or phone, occasionally face to face, when feasible [You are expected to be pro-active in arranging these sessions as they are for your benefit !!]
• Bringing your agenda to the sessions
• Giving full concentration during the sessions, including making notes of key points
• Preparing for and reflecting on these sessions
• Committing time and energy to any agreed actions arising from a session
• Responding promptly to emails from your mentor
• Responding promptly and honestly to occasional requests for feedback from us on how things are going
• Minimum commitment of one year, ideally two years, although successful relationships can go on longer than this
• Committing to completing the initial e training that will take 1.5-2 hours

How does this scheme work ?

• Mentees register on-line, we review your details and then select one or more potential mentors for you to consider. You will never be offered a mentor from your own organisation, and where a suitable mentor is available, your choice will include someone of the same gender.
• You select your mentor from a shortlist prepared by us. Once matched, you start the mentoring journey together. Your mentor has access to e-resources available on-line to help you, as well as advice from a professional coach, should they need it.
• We aim to offer this support throughout the relationship, and commit to offer it for at least 12 months.

Does it cost anything ?

Mentees have to pay a one-off registration fee of £25. If you are unable to pay, either because you genuinely cannot afford it, or do not have a credit or debit card to make the payment, you can contact us. We do not want cost to stop anyone from joining the scheme. There are no other fees.

We do recognise that some of you will have financial needs. Whilst you may talk to your mentor about strategies to raise funds, please do NOT ask your mentor for financial support as that is not their role.

What if it doesn’t work out between myself and my mentor ?

We encourage you to work at developing the relationship over at least three sessions. During this time, it is important to discuss any concerns you may have with your mentor.

We recognise that occasionally people just don’t connect and cannot build the right kind of rapport, so if after three sessions and having discussed it together you both feel, that it is just not working, let us know, and the partnership will end on a ‘no fault’ basis and we will start again!

What about confidentiality?

Your details are confidential and will only be shown to those handling your registration and your mentor.

Your conversations with your mentor are confidential, within specific limits

• you will both be asked for feedback on how the overall process is going
• your mentor can discuss any mentoring issues in confidence with the project co-ordinator

You are free to discuss the contents of these conversations with anyone else, other than any information the mentor has shared about themselves or their organisation which is confidential, unless you both agree that specific information can be shared.

What is Skype ?

Skype is an internet based communication system that many people use to contact people overseas. You register for free, and then can make and receive calls across the internet free of charge to other skype users. You need a headset with a noise cancelling microphone that can plug into your computer, or a microphone and loudspeakers, as well as broadband internet access. If you want to, you can add money to your skype account, so that you can call telephone numbers via skype at a reduced cost as well as skype users. Using a video webcam can help too so you can both see each other, which can be valuable when you may not have met, however video can slow down connection speed and quality.

You can find out more about skype at www.skype.com

How do I register ?

If you

• have carefully read the attitudes, skills, and experience required, and believe you have these,
• are prepared to make the commitments required,

then you are ready to register !

If you are unsure or have further questions, please contact us before registering.

In order to get to know you as a potential mentee, and to help match mentors with mentees, we will be asking for quite a lot of information about you.

To help you,

• You can download some of the sections to complete offline if you wish.
• At any point in the process, you can save what you have entered and return later if you wish.

All that we ask is that you carefully and fully provide the information, and don’t rush through the process.