I believe that an overall benefit of having a mentor in an employment or academic setting are that they can help me develop professionally and personally in achieving success. I feel as though I can rely on them for advice and support whenever I experience initial challenges in a particular setting, such as time management and conflict resolution. My past mentors have been present in a particular field or setting for extensive periods of time. They would provide me with feedback on my performance in a friendly manner as well as educating me on new ideas and findings that I have not learned previously.
Some qualities that I seek in a mentor are that they ought to be approachable and understanding in the learning needs of their mentees and that they should to maintain confidentiality whenever a mentee feels distressed. There should be open communication between the mentor and mentee. In a study on peer mentors with developmental disabilities, the mentors perceived themselves with two roles, primarily as teachers and the secondarily as peers in developing interpersonal relationships (Schwartz & Kramer, 2018).
I believe that a good mentor should equivocally balance these roles because that could further develop the rapport with their mentee. Based on their experiences, these mentors adapted to the learning needs of their mentees with flexibility and patience with the support of their supervisors and use of peer mentoring scripts (Schwartz & Kramer, 2018). I suppose that mentors learn too from their supervisees like a clinical supervisor learning from their student. These peers with developmental disabilities would benefit from ongoing training to learn how to further develop interpersonal relationships with their mentees (Schwartz & Kramer, 2018).
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Traits that are required for one to be a good mentee include their willingness to learn from their mistakes, be proactive in asking for assistance, consistency in communicating and meeting with their mentors, and be cognizant in developing plans to address their areas for improvement. In a study about the Mentee-Centered Approach involving university students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), these students needed to know how to self-advocate in order to be successful while receiving their post-secondary education (Roberts & Birmingham, 2017).
Self-advocacy composes the ability of one to effectively communicate through assertiveness, negotiation, and problem-solving (Test et al. 2005, cited by Roberts & Birmingham, 2017). I believe that the mentee should take ownership for their own personal and professional development and with establishing rapport with their mentors.
References
- Roberts, N., & Birmingham, E. (2017). Mentoring university students with ASD: A mentee- centered approach. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 47(4), 1038–1050. doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2997-9
- Schwartz, A. E., & Kramer, J. M. (2018). “I just had to be flexible and show good patience”: Management of interactional approaches to enact mentoring roles by peer mentors with developmental disabilities. Disability & Rehabilitation, 40(20), 2364–2371. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1334835
