Mentors Circle (mC)

According to Wikipedia, “Mentoring” is a process that always involves communication and is relationship based, but its precise definition is elusive. One definition of the many that have been proposed is…

Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the mentee)”

Another related concept is Mentoring Circles. It is one where a group meets on a regular basis for an agreed upon length of time, where a collection of mentoring relationships happen. The ultimate goal of the Mentoring Circles is to (a) set important and relevant development goals, and (b) build confidence and teach skills to reach the goals (Abbot: A Guide to Mentoring Circles. October 2008).

A new concept which I call ‘’Mentors Circle’ is even more powerful. A Mentors Circle or ‘mC’ is one where one mentee work with multiple mentors. Tapping into the collective expertise of mentors, the mentee can stay ahead of the learning curve with unprecedented pace. An mC has elements of ‘Mentoring Circle’ and that of ‘Living Library’. What makes an mC interesting is that it works as a ‘Book Shelf’ – call it ‘Mentor Shelf’. Mentors are at the mentee’s disposal helping the mentee to learn and develop. Since mentee is interacting with several mentors on a regular basis, it gives different perspective to same issue and this widens the mentee’s thinking process.

An mC is definitely the priority of the mentee. A mentee who is keen to learn more at faster pace is only eligible to carry out an mC; otherwise, it merely becomes a ‘networking’ exercise.

An mC is making reality the metaphor “standing on the shoulders of the giants”, which means ‘one who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past’. In the case of an mC, it is not about past, but is about ‘present’ – interactions with the giants on a regular basis.

Let’s take this to another level. On a basic level, the mC should be the initiative of the mentee. What happens is that, the mentee would find out experts he or she want to interact with, then communicate the intention to be mentored – if the expert is willing, both would come in terms for an mC relationship. What if there are individuals, who have the appetite to continuous learning and development, however are not aware of such opportunities to connect and learn. In this case, the community leaders should take initiative to assign mentors for these individuals – this can be achieved through several grassroots leadership initiatives.