Mentoring

by Jody Shapiro Gandy, PT, PhD
Director of Clinical Education/Education Systems
American Physical Therapy Association

What is Mentoring?

There are a myriad of meanings and interpretations attributed to the term "mentor." The Oxford American Dictionary defines the word as a "trusted adviser," and finds its origin in ancient Greek mythology. In Homer's Odyssey, Ulysses' trusted friend, Mentor, protects, nurtures, educates and guides Ulysses' son Telemakhos into adulthood in his absence. One might describe a contemporary mentor as having similar roles.

According to Levinson and associates' (1978) study of 40 mid-life men, the researchers identified the mentor as a developmentally significant transitional figure for men in the novice phase of early adulthood (ages 17-33). The mentor is usually eight to fifteen years older than the protégé, is situated in the same work setting, and generally serves for two or three years as a mixture of parent and peer. Levinson summarized the mentoring relationship as "in its most basic form mentoring is simply friendship with someone who is a little more experienced, who acts as a guide in regard to a new career, profession, job, or development state."

Scholars provide varied interpretations and emphases in their definitions of a mentor or mentoring relationship. Merriam (1983, p.162) describes mentoring as "a powerful emotional interaction between an older and younger person, a relationship in which the older member is trusted, loving, and experienced in the guidance of the younger. The mentor helps shape the growth and development of the protégé." Darling (1985, p.42) views mentoring as "a process by which you are guided, taught, and influenced in your life's work in important ways" and a mentor as "a person who leads, guides, and advises a person more junior in experience." Thus, simply stated, mentoring is a process that enables an individual (mentee/protégé) to develop personal and professional growth as a result of a special relationship with another individual (mentor) who serves as a guide. The mentor is often more experienced in career development, self-confident, and considered approachable by the mentee. It is significant to note that the focus of the relationship is on the person or protégé, rather than the teaching of specific career skills and procedures that may be considered helpful in the person's career.

The term mentor has often been used synonymously with related terms such as sponsor, role model, and coach. Speizer (1981) uses the term "sponsor" and "mentor" interchangeably to describe individuals who provide career guidance to younger professionals. Bolton (1980, p.198) sees a "role model" as someone who demonstrates how a job is to be performed and a "mentor" a "personalized" role model who acts as a "guide, a tutor or coach, and a confidant." Reohr (1981), in a discussion of academic support systems, distinguishes between the "mentor" and the "colleague" and elucidates more contrast in terms. The mentor has greater social and intellectual status than the protégé, whereas the colleague provides a relationship based on equality.

Each of these related roles has the potential to develop into a mentoring relationship, but the original nature of the relationship differs significantly from mentoring. Mentoring is seen to be far more encompassing than any of these individual roles, yet, at times incorporates these roles as a function of the mentoring relationship. The relationship itself should not be strictly defined in terms of formal roles, but rather in terms of the character of the relationship and the functions it serves. The six functions frequently used to describe the role of a mentor are teacher, sponsor, host and guide, exemplar, and counselor (Levinson, 1978). A mentor facilitates the mentee's dream or the vision s/he has of self through effective implementation of each of these roles. Each of these roles is clarified below:

• Teacher - someone who enhances persons' skills and intellectual development;
• Sponsor - may use his or her influence for the other's entry and advancement;
• Host and Guide - welcomes the initiate into a new occupational and social world, and acquaints him or her with its values, customs, resources, and cast of characters;
• Exemplar - someone whom the mentee can admire and seek to emulate;
• Counselor - provides counsel and moral support in times of stress.

These functions are useful in expanding the notion of mentoring and developing greater understanding of the complexity and magnitude of the relationship entered into by the mentor and mentee.

To foster the attainment of these dreams, the mentor and protégé develop questions, engage in the debate of issues and refine perspectives on problems and solutions for the purpose of building communication, decision-making, problem solving, management, and evaluation skills. Given these parameters, mentoring can be viewed as a structured relationship which incorporates a set of behavioral norms, values, and expectations and has among its goals the transfer of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and aspirations. Mentors and proteges who best understand the culture of mentoring and its purpose are able to take advantage of the numerous opportunities afforded by involvement in a mentoring relationship (Robertson, 1992).

What are the benefits of mentoring?

Mentoring provides tangible and intangible benefits to both the mentor and the mentee as part of a dynamic giving relationship. For the mentor, the benefits are often described as "the giving of gifts." Some of these gifts include: developing self-awareness and personal growth; professional development; providing a platform for the exchange of ideas; stimulation of research questions; application and refinement of knowledge and theory; transferable teaching skills; political strategy development; team building approaches; systems strategy development; creativity and nurturance of others; and developing the genesis of long term friendships. For the protégé there are numerous opportunities afforded by the mentoring relationship. Some of these include career development, new knowledge and stronger theoretical foundations, leadership development, development of problem-solving skills; team building approaches; systems awareness; political savvy, and affirmation of current skills. One of the most precious gifts noted by proteges is confidence in self and the ability to succeed at the task. Also valued highly is assistance in making a dream for their lives, professionally and usually personally.

Common to both the mentor and mentee in the relationship is professional development. According to McCormick and Titus (1990), "a mentor helps to create within the newcomer a sense of identity as a member of the profession." On the personal level, professional development means the maturation of each member of the profession along the career development continuum. Professional development, in this sense, is the responsibility of every individual practitioner, manager, educator, and researcher in physical therapy.

In a broader context, professional development also encompasses the development of the profession as a whole. Thus, mentoring relationships facilitate the development of the physical therapy profession as a whole. These relationships provide the opportunity for leaders to distinguish themselves in the profession and within the broader context of health care delivery. Mentoring can enhance the essential skills for physical therapists to impact the broader environment such as state and federal regulatory agencies, public and private funding sources, institutions of higher education, and other associations. By promoting the capabilities and aspirations of individuals within the profession and by fostering the development of physical therapy in the health and wellness systems, mentoring can have a tremendous impact on practice, education, and research communities. Thus, the mentoring process may be seen as crucial to the continued evolution of the physical therapy profession, and its future growth and development into the twenty-first century should be secured.

What are the costs of mentoring?

Not unlike most situations where there are benefits to be found, there will usually be costs involved. The most obvious of these costs in mentoring is the significant time commitment on both parties. Because there is no direct measurable outcome, it is difficult to assess what resources must be allocated to achieve the goals of mentoring. In addition, the total duration of the time commitment is extremely variable ranging from several months to several years. Much depends on the maturity and life experiences of the mentee, the experience of the mentor, the establishment of clear goals and procedures, the frequency of interactions between the mentor/mentee, and the anticipated outcomes.

Other costs are involved in mentoring for the mentor. This process can reduce the time and personal resources the mentor has to give to his or her family, to other professional endeavors, or to personal development. Most challenging and critical for the mentor is to create a balance between personal career development and the attention paid to the development of the mentee. In addition, the mentor must be able to recognize when mentoring has progressed to the realm of meddling or manipulation. If the relationship exceeds its intended purpose and boundaries, the protégé may resent the mentor or even find it necessary to break from the mentor precipitously during their professional career growth.

For the protégé, mentoring is a significant energy and time commitment. The protégé must schedule time to routinely question, reflect, and plan. Often learning promotes change that can be uncomfortable and at times painful for both the teacher and learner. Ultimately, prior to entering a mentoring relationship, both parties must define and weigh the benefits and costs. Only when the benefits to both individuals are perceived to outweigh the costs is it appropriate to enter such a relationship. Robertson (1992) posed questions to be considered when contemplating a mentoring relationship.

• What tangible and intangible rewards do you expect from entering into a mentoring relationship?
• What goals do you have for you personal and professional development that can be addressed by a mentoring relationship?
• What time do you anticipate dedicating to the mentoring relationship?
• How long do you think you need to be involved in the relationship to reach your desired outcome?

Characteristics of Mentors

Mentors demonstrate a variety of characteristics that are both beneficial and attractive to the protégé. In a study by Gray and Gray (1985, p.39) on mentors in research and business, "effective mentors are people oriented and secure who like and trust their proteges. Successful mentors take a personal interest in their proteges' careers, share power and expertise, encourage their proteges' ideas, and help them gain self-confidence." Clawson (1979) found that good mentors are people-oriented, tolerate ambiguity, prefer abstract concepts, value their company and work, and respect and like their subordinates. Likewise, Alleman (1982) found that successful mentors are confident, secure, flexible, altruistic, warm and caring, sensitive to the proteges' needs, and trust their proteges. Thus, mentors are frequently described by a multiplicity of characteristics which are summarized in Table 1.

Characteristics of Proteges

As expected, proteges seem to demonstrate specific traits that are often indicative of their readiness to be involved in the mentor-protégé relationship. Some of these characteristics include the potential for success, willingness to learn, capacity for self-disclosure and risk taking, and ambition to name a few. A more comprehensive list of characteristics can be found in Table 1. Interestingly, many of the characteristics found in proteges correlate with what mentors look for in a protégé. Intelligence, one of the most frequently mentioned attributes, is essential for the mentee to survive in the organization and provides the basic foundation for the mentor to begin the "molding process." Other attributes cited include ambition; desire and ability to accept power and risk; ability to perform the mentor's job; loyalty and commitment to the organization and mentor; similar perceptions of work and organization; organizational savvy; positive perception of the protégé by the organization; and the ability to establish alliances.

Characteristics of the Mentoring Relationship

The key to successful mentoring is the mentor-protégé relationship. Gray and Gray (1985) represent the dynamic nature of the mentor-protégé relationship as a continuum ranging from where the mentor plays the primary role to a level at which the protégé becomes an autonomous self-directed professional. Hence, it is not just the characteristics that the mentor and protégé bring to the relationship, but more importantly, the behaviors and interactions that occur between them throughout the process. What mentors do for the protégé, and how enthusiastically the protégé receives and responds to the mentor's help, is of much greater concern. Kram found (1980) as the mentor-protégé relationship is being cultivated, successful mentors fulfill five career functions (introduce proteges to new opportunities, coach and sponsor them, protect and challenge them), and four psychological functions (role-model, counsel, accept-confirm, and befriend them). Within this model, the mentor functions as a leader, teacher/instructor promoting thinking skills, promoter of realistic values, supervisor, counselor, and foster of indirect mentoring from others. Thus, the mentoring relationship as discussed in this article is complex, multidimensional and perhaps not found as frequently as one would expect.

From a study of 41 teachers claiming to have been mentored in their first year of teaching, Gehrke and Kay (1984) developed eight possible roles of a mentor as teacher, coach, role model, sponsor, protector, door-opener, successful leader, confidant, and developer of talents. These individuals also shared mutual commitments to a common goal and had a comprehensive influence upon the protégé's professional and career development. Applying Clawson's (1979) definition of a mentor, only those people fulfilling three or more of these roles were considered as mentors.

Based on this information, one might ask "Who do I believe has served as my mentor(s)?" This question might be followed by "What did this person(s) do as my mentor?" or "Was I aware that I had entered a mentoring relationship?" Thus, one might wonder whether the perceived mentor really served in the capacity of a mentor, or if a mentoring relationship existed. Perhaps your "mentor" really functioned more like a teacher, role model, or sponsor. So how does all of this relate to physical therapy? Formal and informal mentoring programs are often associated with primary and secondary school teachers and business. Schmoll's (1982) work on mentoring suggested that organizations cannot prearrange mentor/mentee relationships or expect managers or supervisors to serve as mentors as part of their job responsibilities. Potential mentors need to possess prerequisite characteristics, be compatible in substantive ways, be willing to engage in close relationships by giving of themselves both personally and professionally, and demonstrate mutual respect and admiration. The development of a mentor/mentee relationship depends upon mutual choice and requires a considerable amount of dedicated time together both formally and informally.

Professions such as law, medicine, and business view mentoring as an integral part of the initiation into the profession and a part of ongoing professional development. Physical therapy has begun to examine the development of more formal mentoring programs for physical therapists involved in practice, education, and research to help ensure the growth and future of the profession. The success of developing these programs will be determined by individual mentors and proteges who voluntarily enter into the relationship and the behaviors and characteristics they bring to the relationship. Consideration should be given to structuring the mentoring relationship by the mentor and protégé to reduce the potential for excessive time commitments, inappropriate expectations, and over dependence. In addition, a clear purpose and outcome of the relationship, strategies for ensuring accessibility, and determination of an appropriate environment to foster the relationship should be defined. Providing a sense of structure in this way can facilitate a solid foundation for growth in the relationship.

The development of formal mentoring relationships could assist in recruitment and retention efforts in practice, education, and research. These programs could also provide opportunities for enhancing cultural diversity within the profession. Likewise, developing informal and formal mechanisms for mentoring could continue to foster the development of leadership within the profession and outside of the profession. Mentoring relationships can foster innovation and creativity for both the mentor and the protégé and can expand horizons in practice, education, and research. Encouraging mentoring relationships in physical therapy may provide yet another strategy to continue to promote professional growth and development.

Questions for Reflection

• Am I ready and willing to be a mentor/protégé?
• Do I have the time, resources, knowledge, skills, and behaviors to serve as a mentor/protégé?
• What are my areas of strength and weaknesses as a mentor/protégé?
• For what role(s) do I feel most comfortable in providing mentoring? (eg. practitioner, educator, researcher, manager)
• What characteristics do I bring to the mentoring relationship?
• Are my personal and professional goals such that I need a mentor?
• What do I expect of the mentoring relationship?
• What are the benefits and costs in becoming a mentor/protégé at this time?

References

Alleman, E. (1982). "Mentoring relationships in organization: Behavior, personality characteristics, and interpersonal perceptions." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron.

Bolton, E.B. (1980). "A conceptual analysis of the mentor relationship in the career development of women." Adult Education, 30, 195-207.

Clawson, J. (1979). "Superior-subordinate relationships for managerial development." Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Business School.

Darling, L.A.W. (1985, March). "Mentors and mentoring." The Journal of Nursing Administration, 15, 42-43.

Gehrke, N., and Kay, R.S. (1984). "The socialization of beginning teachers through mentor-protégé relationships." Journal of Teacher Education, 35, 21-24.

Gray, W.A., and Gray, M.E. (1985, November). "Synthesis of research on mentoring beginning teachers." Educational Leadership, 37-43.

Kram, E.G. (1985). Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organizational Life. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Levinson, D.J., et al. (1978). The Seasons of a Man's Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

McCormick, T.E., and Titus, P. (1990, Spring). Mentoring: Giving minority women tools for advancement. Mentoring International, 4, 31-37.

Merriam, S. (Spring 1983). "Mentors and proteges: A critical review of the literature." Adult Education Quarterly, 33, 161-173.

Reohr, J.R. (1981). "Mentor and colleague relationships in academia." ERIC Document Reproductive Service No. ED 215 040.

Robertson, S.C. (1992). Find a Mentor or Be One. The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., USA.

Sands, R.G., Parson, L.A., Duane, J. (1991, March/April). "Faculty mentoring faculty in a public university." Journal of Higher Education, 62, 174-193.

Schmoll, B.J. (1982). "The making of a mentor/mentee relationship." Proceedings of a paper presented at the Midwest Research to Practice Conference at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 129-135.

Speizer, J.J. (1981, Summer). "Role models, mentors, and sponsors: The elusive concepts." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 6, 692-712.

[This article is reprinted from: Gandy, J; Mentoring. Orthopaedic Practice, 1993;5:6-9, with permission from the Orthopaedic Section, APTA, Inc.]