Mentorship: An Art of Adaptation
Mentorship, whether in sports coaching or leadership in business, is an art of adaptation where the mentor's role must evolve at the same pace as the mentee.
According to Entrepreneur magazine, the key lies in recognizing the stage of development of each individual to offer adequate support. Whether it's a young athlete or an aspiring engineer, progress is structured into four major stages, each requiring a specific approach.
Teaching Fundamentals to Beginners
For a beginner, everything relies on acquiring the basics. The mentor adopts the role of an instructor, simplifying concepts and guiding every step. Like young athletes learning their posture or novice programmers discovering code, the goal is to lay a solid foundation and orient with precision.
Guiding Novices towards Autonomy
When a novice acquires skills, they can easily overestimate their abilities without fully grasping the subtleties. The mentor must moderate excess confidence, correct errors, and introduce calculated risks to develop the capacity for self-correction. Learning to discern good from bad is an important step in both sports and business.
Helping Intermediates to Perfect Themselves
At this stage, the individual begins to detect their errors but still struggles to find solutions independently. The mentor plays a subtle role, encouraging their protégé to analyze their own performances and refine their judgment. The goal is to anchor this critical reflection, essential for autonomous progress.
Guiding Masters to Become Mentors
When someone achieves mastery, they become capable of self-correction and can then guide others in turn. The mentor takes a step back, offering an outside perspective and allowing their former student to become a mentor themselves. This process makes mentorship circular, enabling each generation to transmit their knowledge.
These stages demonstrate that mentorship goes beyond teaching and embodies a journey of personal and professional transformation. By adapting their advice and approach, mentors help their protégés build themselves and transmit their knowledge in turn. Well-calibrated support has the power to reinforce talents while building a sustainable culture of support.
