The cover story of the MyCareer supplement in The Age (22 August 2009) contained an interesting article on mentoring.  Entitled: 'Your guide to greatness', the article strengthened the position that having the support of a mentor is an excellent way to build your personal and professional development while crafting your career.

Key themes from the article included:

• Mentoring can be formal or informal - but regularity of contact is key to success
• Prioritising the mentoring relationship helps to build successful outcomes - thinking time with your mentor is an essential path to building career success
• Mentoring is 'making a comeback' as Australia faces an ageing population with many experienced workers to leave the workforce in the future
• A mentoring relationship is different to the management relationship - mentees set the objectives of development
• Both mentor and mentee should be willing participants in the partnership - mentoring should not be a forced activity
• Confidentiality is paramount in the mentoring partnership - as is having a focus and mentoring plan and agreement
• Mentors also benefit from the mentoring relationship - mentors feel a sense of pride in the 'wins' of the relationship
• Falling out of contact in a partnership is poor form - if ending the relationship do so with grace and professionalism
• Mentoring can be low cost to run - there's no payment passing between the mentor and mentee
• The generosity of a mentoring relationship can extend past the formal mentoring partnership timelines.

The Australian Mentor Centre was asked for comment on this article, and we are delighted to have contributed to this conversation alongside other Australian mentoring experts.

If you would like to know more about mentoring - please do contact us on info@australianmentorcentre.com.au.  Plus - if you'd like to get your mentoring program off to a flying start - why not attend our upcoming Mentoring Program Coordinator Training Package - click here to register.

Here's the link to the online version of the article: http://www.theage.com.au/executive-style/executive-women/your-guide-to-greatness-20090824-evw3.html

Other article references are:

Publication: The Age, MyCareer Supplement, p5.  Author: Sue White. Date: 22 August 2009