Sample of a peer Response

Hello Class,

In the process of the Individual Development Plan, change is inevitable because things and people change. Flexibility as a mentor is important because it shows growth in both mentor and mentee. In order for the experience to be successful the mentor must understand that plans are sometimes altered. In the military we are accustomed to change in our daily lives and have to make adjustments, and this is no different in the mentoring process. Mentorship is a long-term, deep-rooted relationship requiring total vulnerability and transparency in every relevant area of one’s life(Davis, 2021). When we are asked to mentor other people, we are also signing on to take on their most personal struggles and having a mentor with empathy is needed. In order to fully understand the IDP, there needs to be check-ins and regular updates to evaluate the progress in order to make the necessary changes. As my mentee takes on different roles and challenges, it is my responsibility to ensure that I am monitoring her progress to see what she needs. As a military leader, it is important to listen but also follow up because there are always changes that require immediate attention. In a solid mentoring relationship, the mentor will see that the mentee organically becomes empowered as their familiarity, knowledge and skill grows throughout the mentoring relationship and one way to observe this development is in the type of questions the mentee asks(Hopwood, & Bradbury, 2021). When there are regular follow ups and check-ins conducted this will help the mentor understand why plans change but also why taking the program seriously is warranted. I feel that once your mentee starts to grow so should the plan. This will also allow the mentor to reward their mentee on their growth.

References

Davis, N. E. (2021). How Mentorship and Coaching Can Unlock One’s Full Potential. Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting, 32(1), 8–12.

Hopwood, D. G., & Bradbury, W. (2021). CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS: A Phase Model Approach. Professional Safety, 66(6), 31–37.

Response

Your point here about staying in close touch with the mentee and its relationship to change is important. A constant reminder of progress, performance, evaluation, and adaptation keeps the objectives and behaviors leading towards progress continually infront of the mentee (Grenny, 2013). It seems that in many cases long gaps between sessions can cause the visibility of the “data” of the mentoring process to fade. In these cases as well, decreased visibility results in decreased motivation and subsequently lower action and progress towards goals. With the regular check ins you mentioned, also mentor-mentee understandings stay more dynamic instead of periodically adjusting.  This enables them to flex more naturally and relevantly. Any perception that one’s mentoring relationship is irrelevant will be sure to quickly kill it. The ability to quickly change mentoring plans should be enabled to keep the relationship relevant, and thus successful. 

Grenny, J. (2013). Influencer :the new science of leading change (Second ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.