Welcome to the AAMN Mentoring Program. You have been selected as a Mentor
and will soon be paired with a Mentee.
The structure of this program is adapted from and informed by the work of
Lois Zachary, author of “The Mentor’s
Guide”. The brief readings and exercises that both you and your mentee
will be completing in each of the 4 phases of the program come from Dr.
Zachary’s work. The full reference for her text is Zachary, L. (2000).
The mentor’s guide: Facilitating
effective learning relationships. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
(ISBN 0-7879-4742-3). You are most welcome to purchase this book if you find
the selected readings helpful.
Though, keep in mind, that in addition to the readings and exercises
presented in the AAMN Mentoring Program, the AAMN will also be providing you
with a booklet by Linda Phillip-Jones from
The Mentoring Group titled
“ The Mentor’s Guide: How to be
the kind of mentor you once had or wish you’d had”. Your mentee has
been provided with Dr. Phillip-Jones’s booklet title
“The Mentee’s Guide: How to have a
successful relationship with a mentor”.
You can use this booklet to help inform the progress of your
mentor/mentee relationship.
You will also be completing the readings and exercises posted in the AAMN
Mentoring Program that have been developed by Dr. Zachary and adapted for
use in our program. You will also find the information from Dr.
Phillip-Jones’ booklet informative and helpful.
However, in the spirit of the “Mentoring Relationship”, you and your
mentor will decide how you best work together. The information we provide
helps suggest a structure for that process.
Dr. Zachary has suggested in her book that the mentoring process has 4
stages
and the AAMN Mentoring Program is structured around that framework: These
phases are:
Preparing: Getting ready to
participated in a Mentor/Mentee relationship
Negotiating : Jointly deterring
the ‘ground rules’, ‘goals’, and ‘structure’ of the relationship
Enabling:
Participating in the Mentor/Mentee relationship
Closing:
Ending the
Mentor/Mentee relationship
In each of these 4 phases, we have provided readings and exercises adapted
from “The Mentor’s Guide”
that will help facilitate your experience as a Mentor.
In addition, we ask that you complete the first phase, “Preparing” as your
orientation to the AAMN Mentoring Program. Once that orientation has been
completed, you will be paired with your Mentee.
In order to support the AAMN Mentoring Program, the AAMN Mentorship Task
Force will be conducting Bi-monthly phone conference calls for the group of
Mentors. This will be a time to share successes, ask questions, collaborate
with other Mentors, and offer feedback for each other and the Mentorship
Task Force.
Keep in mind that there are some general expectations to keep in as you
consider this venture.
Common Expectations of Mentors & Mentees
1.
Be clear
on the type of relationship (formal or informal)
2.
Have a
mission, vision and contract with goals and desired outcome with timelines
3.
Have
responsibilities and roles clearly defined in the beginning of the
relationship
In
addition, there are some specific expectations to keep in mind that are
relevant to Mentors:
1.
Regular
meetings to discuss progress and identity problem / need areas.
2.
Provide
sound advice in the form of contrastive and clear feedback.
3.
Maintain
confidentiality.
4.
Fulfill
all commitments or renegotiate new agreements.
5.
Resolve
conflicts as soon as they are identified.
6.
Evaluate
the relationship throughout the process and make adjustments as needed.
In
summary, the process the AAMN Mentoring Program will follow is:
1.
The AAMN membership will be introduced to the Mentorship Program
2.
Potential Mentors and Mentees will complete applications
3.
All applications will be evaluated by the AAMN Mentorship Task Force
4.
Mentors and Mentees will be informed of their eligibility for the
program
5.
Mentors will complete a brief orientation
6.
AAMN Mentorship Task Force will assist with linking Mentors and
Mentees. However, Mentors and Mentees will have input into this process.
7.
Once a satisfactory connection has been made, the Mentor and Mentee
will commence with the relationship following the guidelines established by
the AAMN Mentorship Task Force for the Mentoring Program.
8.
This initial Mentoring Program will continue for 1 year.
9.
At the end of that year, 2) the AAMN Board, the Mentee, and the
Mentor will evaluate the program. Feedback will be used to determine if the
Mentorship Program will continue. If it does continue, the feedback will
also be used to further shape and refine the program.
10.
Each Mentor and Mentee will be encouraged to negotiate their
relationship.
Thank you for being an AAMN Mentor!