Am I a mentor? I think I am, but I have a lot of room for improvement. Certainly the motivation to help my learners achieve their professional (and sometimes personal) goals is there, and I feel that I am willing to give much of myself in order to guide them. However, I often feel that the generation gap is difficult to bridge. To improve, I try to ensure that my interactions with learners are not strained by unnecessary pressure or intimidation or hierarchy. I try to always address them as colleagues and make them feel like they may address me the same way. I try to share my reflections about our chosen career so that we can grow together.
Mentoring is an art that is rarely mastered. The effectiveness of a mentor mentee relationship will rely on both mentor and mentee characteristics. There will always be new lessons learned as you go from one relationship to the next.
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I agree with these insights and will also apply them on myself in improving my skills as a mentor. I also believe that to be empathic is a very big part of being a mentor, which is difficult due to age and generation gaps, but I believe that with willingness to improve one-self, we can be better mentors to our trainees
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