When Ev (a new partner) had asked Fran (a one year qualified solicitor) to act as mentor to Beth (a senior partner), Fran was understandably surprised – but interested.
Ev had suggested that, to help her, Fran have a coaching session with a business coach (Liam) who regularly worked with people in the firm. Usually people being promoted to partner or being given a new role. Fran was a bit nervous but agreed. Partly she was curious as to what this Liam actually did and also because she didn’t have much idea how she should go about mentoring Beth.
The conversation with Liam went something like this – at least his side of the conversation:
“What do you know about Beth?”
“What do you know about her new role?”
“What did you think and feel when Ev asked you to be a mentor for her? What do you think and feel about it now?
“What do you think Beth wants? What do you think she needs? How will you find out?”
And after each response by Fran, his response was usually, “And what else?”. Which to start with was mildly irritating. But then Fran began to appreciate that her second (or third or fourth) answer or observation was often more relevant and helpful to her than her immediate, instinctive, reply.
When Liam asked her “So, how do you think you’ll go about the mentoring with Beth?”, Fran was tempted to say, “Well I’m not sure - you haven’t really told me, have you.” After a moment or two’s thought (which she noticed Liam never interrupted), she actually said “Well, ask her lots of questions to find out what she wants. I think it’s going to be around social media and digital marketing on the BD side. And probably how millennials view their working life and long-term careers on the HR side. But I’ll wait for her to tell me this – or something else. I won’t assume.”
“Sounds good.”
“But, is just asking her loads of questions, just like you have been doing with me, really going to help her? She’ll want more than that won’t she?”
“Yes she will. She will definitely want to hear your thoughts and ideas based on your experience. That is a difference in emphasis between mentoring and coaching. But the starting point is similar – asking questions and listening.”
“Ok, I’ve got that. And I suppose it takes the pressure off me having to
Keep in touch, I’ll be interested to know how it goes.”