Mentoring is a special working relationship of discussion that focuses on professional development and growth. The Mentor (me) uses questions and discussion to help the Mentee (you) find their own way forward. It is non-judgmental and nurturing. I don't have an agenda, or answers to all of your questions. I will help you find the answers to your important questions. This will help you create the career that you truly want
In a typical clinical setting, a new associate will receive some sort of input from their employer. In my experience this can fall short of ideal because of issues with lack of time, hot-desking and issues of judgement.
Using a mentor who is not your employer allows you to experiment with ideas and discussion and avoid the issue of feeling judged.
I do most mentoring using WhatsApp video chat. A session will typically last an hour. At the end of the session I would expect you to set yourself some goals about what you are going to do before our next meeting. After our session I will invoice you (£50, currently) and you will pay by internet banking. Nice and simple. I do not have long-term contracts. A newly qualified practitioner might like to have a weekly or fortnightly meeting, talking about clinical cases that they have seen and wish to discuss. This might move onto a monthly meeting or even a quarterly meeting at some point in the future. A more established practitioner might want to focus on issues of practice development. I don't set the agenda, you do! You can have mentoring for as long as you find it useful.
Although some of my clients are looking for a quick fix to a tricky situation, I think that the best working relationship is a long-term one, working at all of the facets of your professional life as well as how that fits into the landscape of the rest of your life
If you think that mentoring might be for you, drop me an email. Our first online meeting is free, and we can discuss what you are hoping to achieve and how you are going to do that.
Image at top by Ben Collins (via Unsplash)
