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Contents 1: Introduction to Leadership and Mentoring 2: definition of leaders and Mentors 3: Exemplary models 4: Roles and Values 5: Standard & Ethics 6: Case study 7: Conclusion 8: References I: Introduction Leadership and mentoring has generally been mistaken to be the same thing however during the course of this assignment I aim to prove otherwise that although leaders and mentors may share some similar traits they have different definitions and perform different functions.
There are different types of leaders and also mentors; examples of famous leaders are Nelson Mandela, Adolf Hitler, Abraham Lincoln Barrack Obama, examples of mentors are Socrates who mentored Aristotle who subsequently mentored Alexander the Great. These are examples of great leaders and mentors mostly in political situations and ancient times. In the modern day contemporary society there are examples of leaders and mentors in educational institutions, sports, workplaces.
They are needed for these organisations to run smoothly. II: Leadership And Mentoring Leadership and mentoring as a context have different meanings according to different sources; however there are no single definitions but different words are used to explain what they mean in situations where they are applicable. According to Ronaldo regain in (Strock 1998 P. 17) A great leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things he is the one who gets the people to do great things. Robert and brown 2004 P. 2) leadership is how a person tasked in charge of leading others changes their mentality, collective thoughts, to make these group of people more efficient in daily activities. Leadership is having precise knowledge of how things should be done and how he expects the people he is in charge of to carry out their activities as well. A leader is a person who influences and gives directives to a group of individuals who work together to achieve a collective goal.
A leader does his duties by using leadership skills and personality traits, which apply to different situations they face; a leaders values and morals help determines the kind of leader he hopes to become. Different leaders have different personality traits, this traits affect a leaders style of leadership, according to (Northouse 2004 P. 16) good leaders possess traits such as humility, integrity, belief carefully utilising the traits helps create conducive working conditions between the leader and his followers, a good leader would be able to carry out his duties with excellent support from his supporter.
A mentor is a person another individual looks up to as an advisor, role model and someone who influences their thoughts and actions. Best example is that of a master in chosen craft and his apprentice or protegee (Clutterbuck 2004) explains mentoring as assistance given from one person to another in making adequate contributions in education, work or personal thought, mentors pass valuable knowledge and experience to others.
Mentors guide their mentees using experience gained to guide and counsel their decision making and thinking in dealing with life situations, giving them advice on career issues, how to cope with life in their workplaces, universities and colleges. A mentor’s positivity is more evident in their competency to proffer good advice, ethics and self-respect in providing support to the people they are mentoring also acting as a friend and developing a working personal relationship.
According to Clutterbuck (2004) a mentors job is to get the mentee to achieve goals and targets they have set out for themselves, the mentor makes sure the mentee takes responsibilities for achieving his targets this is called a non- directive mentor relationship this type of mentoring helps the mentee to achieve a higher level of self- confidence and improves their personal skills to take on tasks and accomplish directives given to them by themselves.
If the mentor takes responsibility for the mentees actions ,failures and the entire mentoring process and reminding the mentee of the goals they set out to achieve this is called a directive mentoring relationship however this places more emphasis in getting a task done on the mentor instead of the mentee. Mentoring for the mentor is about challenging himself to perform to greater capabilities while nurturing a mentee and stretching them to realise their full potential. Mentors counsel, tutor and guide their mentees in developing themselves.
A mentor however has to understand his role and not get caught up with his mentee too personally and possibly emotionally as this can affect his judgement in giving out advice to the mentee in vital situations. III: Exemplary Models A leader carries himself with high self-esteem giving out intelligent and well thought out answers and making the right decisions when needed this increases his reputation and subsequently transfers to his supporters who are at ease to know they have put their faith in the right leader (Northouse 2004 P. 9) said that although it is important for a leader to be intelligent it is also important that he and his supporters are moving in the right direction together. Leaders who are very smart may have difficulties relating their ideas to their supporters this can lead to disagreements in the organisation. A leader has to understand what is required of him and how he can give effective leadership to his followers. (Northouse) also says that they are born leaders and people who learn to be leaders. Born leaders exhibit leadership traits such as humility, self-confidence, intelligence and determination.
According to (Daft 2008 P. 326) a born requires the right mix of the above-mentioned traits to performing his duties. This mix of traits makes a leader more effective. Examples of born leaders are Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela they were strong committed and passionate about the things they believed in and fought for it. In the case of Nelson Mandela he was imprisoned for 27years for what he believed, he was anti-apartheid activist fighting against racial discrimination in South Africa leading the calls for total democracy and equal human rights between black and white ethnicity.
When he was released Mandela introduced a democratic style of leadership, which is widely regarded as the best style of leadership. (http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-africa-12305154) However democratic leadership is sometimes questioned for being a slow type of leadership raising doubts over how swiftly an important decision can be made without being delegated for approval. Another example of leadership is autocratic leadership; this type of leadership was practised by Adolf Hitler of Germany who was a senior official in the West-Germany army who ended up being the leader of the country.
Hitler ruled over a communist country he was a decorated veteran of World War joining the National socialist German workers party better know as the Nazi party he was most famous for his central role in the rise of fascism in Europe and world war 2. (http://www. bbc. co. uk/history/people/adolf_hitler) General Sani Abacha was also an autocratic leader in Nigeria during the military regime between 1993-1998 his government was marred by human rights allegations, corruptions and military rule. During the military rule there was no form of democracy in Nigeria the leaders words was law and could not be gone against.
It is noteworthy that although it was an autocratic style leadership laced with corruption and money laundering the country itself was in a progressive state there was regular electricity, adequate water supply export and import transactions and strength in the national currency as opposed to the current democratic leadership where the situation has gone backwards. The general requirements of a leader are to lead and influence his supporters in their beliefs, rights, actions and decision -making. A leader must have faith in his methods to be able to lead others.
If a leader is unsure of himself his supporters may have doubts of his leadership abilities and may revolt against him or breakway to support someone else. Leaders have to display competencies to show they have what it takes to provide sound and effective leadership. (http://www. independent. co. uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-general-sani-abacha-1163944. html) (Pardey 2007) said that leaders have to be clear and transparent about the standards they set for themselves and their supporters to avoid unforeseen inconsistences and erase doubts from the minds of his supporters.
An effective leader must make sure his actions represents his interests and the interests of his supporters, that his decisions are correct and would generate positive response and reviews, he must not abuse power and must always make sure to satisfy his supporters. Section 11 To be an effective mentor the attributes needed are more distinct. A mentor must be able to understand his or her-self, strengths and weaknesses and how he can improve and develop. In being a mentor a person has agreed to invest time and effort to offer help to someone else to watch them excel and challenge themselves to go beyond their abilities.
The working relationship between a mentee and mentor must be cordial and professional and also confidential, this is like a relationship between close friends who inspire each other to succeed in good and bad times (Haring et al 1983) A mentor must be able to create a healthy environment for the mentee so they can understand and trust each other if the mentee feels the mentor is warm and understanding they will quickly build up a harmonious relationship and understanding of each other, a mentor has to be open minded in understanding the different types they mentor and how they can offer advice and solutions to individuals with varying personalities. Effective mentors use past experiences and knowledge of their own to help mentee in similar situations or using their experiences to relate to different situations also a mentor must also be able to adapt.
IV: Roles and values of a Mentor Mentos perform different duties; this section is going to show examples of mentors in different fields I: Corporate Mentor; a corporate mentor is mostly used in business corporations this type of mentoring is between senior and junior officers in a business. in this situations new employees and or current employees can benefit from corporate mentoring. This corporate mentors help guide their mentees on how to overcome problems since they are just starting out jobs in the corporation they give the mentees advice on how to use they work systems, where they can collect their mail, car parking location and general acceptable office behaviour.
The senior mentors who are mentoring current employees who perhaps are looking to take more responsibilities nurture their mentees on how they should handle new responsibilities and encourage self-development so they can improve their new positions. II: Personal Mentoring; this is mostly common in educational institutions and also in a corporative mentoring as well. A personal mentor helps a mentee,s transition into a new environment, offering advice and support in settling down into the new environment. A personal mentor is mostly common in universities and colleges, these mentors reprise their mentoring roles as personal tutors, or head of course departments. These mentors understand how new and current students feel in dealing with educational life, coping with dealings and improving their understanding of topics.
They help students settle down and give them advise on how to tackle their problems, this mentors also help their mentees personally depending on the relationships they have created for new students they can help show them around a new city or town, inform them of safe residential areas, give them emergency telephone numbers, and also places of general recreation. V: Standard and Ethics A leader must uphold his values he has promise to represent, a leader must be motivated and competent and must be able to motivate others around him. Followers look up to their leaders as inspirational figures and role-models and look up to them when they face adversity. A motivated leader is productive and efficient (Bennis 1984) stressed that a leader must be influential, confident and democratically enforce his principles and decisions on his followers.
He must also be able to make difficult decisions to show he has the required mettle to lead his supporters exhibiting his leadership traits and management qualities. Mentoring benefits both the mentor and the mentee, a mentee benefits from having a mentor because of help offered to them in new situations especially in news business and educational situations. A mentee quickly fits in his new environment and understands what is required of them. The mentor also benefits. By successfully gaining another mentoring experience a mentor is therefore more experienced and knowledgeable, as he has just dealt with a different type of mentee thereby knowing how to deal with a different personality and also learning from his mentee.
A mentor-mentee relationship should be cordial and professional both develop mutual respect for each other, as while working together they both learn to understand themselves in creating the mentor-mentee relationship and also as friends. According to (Moberg and Velasquez 2004) a mentor-mentee relationship should be fair, confidential and beneficial to both parties. They are both obligated to work conductively and understand each other VI; Case Study Leadership and Mentoring has allowed governments, offices, people, and educational institutions to function properly. Without the qualities to be a leader and a mentor these offices would not be able to function properly.
In some cases leaders can act as mentors to the people they want to take over from them when they leave positions of power or influence they regards them as protegees for example; The entrepreneurship show the Apprentice is a show where contestants entire to win prize money of 250,000 as investment money towards the start of their businesses of their choice whoever wins becomes a mentee to Sir Alan Sugar (http://www. bbc. co. uk/apprentice/series7/about. shtml) Who is a successful businessman with wealth of experience and can give professional and offer his experience in business situations to this mentee after the show finishes and how best to manage their earnings and make investments.
Important leaders such as mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, and Nelson Mandela help best to illustrate what being a leader and a mentor requires Mahatma Gandhi: Gandhi was a famous political and spiritual leader in India who led the country in 1922 non-cooperation movement, although he was violent and disobedient he was doing this for freedom and equality, he went through struggles, and was beaten in his fight for justice and freedom he also played a key role in the civil rights movement in south Africa. Gandhi was assassinated on January 30th 1948 but his legacy in the fight against slavery, injustice and inequality still lives on (http://www. thefamouspeople. com/profiles/mahatma-gandhi-55. php)
Winston Churchill: He was one of the greatest politicians to ever come out of the United-kingdom and went on to become prime minister. He famously declared war on Germany in 1939 in against the Nazi movement he is quoted as saying ” if he had to choose between communism and the Nazis he would choose communism” exhibiting autocratic leadership. http://www. thefamouspeople. com/profiles/winston-churchill-97. php establishing good trade ties with the United-states and going on to a second tenure as Prime minister of United-kingdom These famous leaders have gone on even in their death to act as role-models and mentors for others to follow. My leadership and mentoring skills:
During my summer of 2010 holiday last year I volunteered for Oxfam charity organisation in providing food and health care for less privileged kids and adults. I spent three months volunteering and it was a rewarding experience, during the duration of volunteering not only did I meet new people, but I felt very fulfilled as for the first time I really knew I was doing something worthy of my time and contributing to the world helping to eradicate poverty and reduce the number of homeless people on the streets. While working I developed leadership and mentoring skills and was able to become an effective communicator by passing on clear knowledge to the people I was working with I made sure I behaved to acceptable standard with my colleagues.
Personally I also learnt how to work in groups and resolve conflicts with my work members. I naturally grew and progressed into a mentor-type role for the younger kids and helped them get things they needed also spoke to them against joining gangs and concentrating on their education for a brighter future. Seeing how happy the kids where and knowing I had a part to play was really a rewarding experience for me. I developed good work and personal relationships with my colleagues; on the weekends when we were off work we would go the pub for a drink and catch the odd football and Wimbledon game together over a couple pints of beer. I had made new friends and developed leadership and mentoring skills as well.
Hopefully when I graduate in the summer of 2012 during the break before my masters programme I hope to volunteer in different countries and help the cause to reduce starvation, poverty, create schools and water for young children in any way I can. Creating ways for myself to continue my self-development as a leader and mentor is an exciting ambition I have taken up. VII: Conclusion A leader has his traits and qualities, which clearly differentiates him from a mentor. This is clearly apparent in how they conduct their activities and influence their mentees and supporters separately. Leaders are quick thinkers, they react to situations quickly and making important decisions in times of adversity, they are also take great and necessary risks for a fulfilling rewards for themselves and their society a leader strives to mproves his surrounding environment and that of his supporters creating better working and living conditions for them. Supporters/followers are able to believe in the leaders system and are happy to support a system that works and is productive to them. Supporters thereby take on the personality traits of their leaders and conduct their affairs like the leader would, this lead to harmonious working places and a safe society. With an effective leader and follower relationship things are better for the general society, government, foreign trades with other leaders and countries and also the economy A mentor is fair, open-minded and effective he uses the best skills possible to create the best possible outcome in any situation.
A mentor transfers important knowledge and invaluable experience to his mentees helping them to be self-reliant on themselves and trust in their own abilities. Mentees gain important information and become aware of their abilities and how to apply themselves productively in achieving their own goals and increasing self-development opportunities. A leader and a mentor are two separate things and have different definitions, however they both share some similar core values in carrying out their duties. A person can be born or gifted with both leadership and mentoring qualities and can also learn how to become one. Leaders and mentors must be open-minded in understanding the views and opinions of their followers and mentees.
Ethical leadership and mentoring skills are very important for leaders and mentors in keeping their followers and mentees happy. I hope I have been able to evenly discuss the concepts of leadership and mentoring how they are connected and how they can also be separated entities. Word Count 3438 REFERENCES James M Strock 1998, P. 17 Reagan on Leadership, Prima Pub Publishers Richard Daft 2004 P. 108, 326,356. The Leadership Experience Peter G. Northouse 2004 P. 16, 19. Leadership: Theory and Practice Mats Alvesso. 1997 Understanding Gender and Organization’s Robert G Lord and Douglas Brown. 2004, P. 20 Leadership processes and Follower Self Identity Clutterbuck, D. Lane, G. 2004) Situational Mentor: An international review of competencies and capabilities in mentoring: Ash gate publishing group, Abingdon, Oxon, GBR. Bennis, W. and Goldsmith, J. (2003) Learning to Lead. Perseus Publishing Emerald insight staff (2005) An introduction to Morden leadership, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd: Bradford, GBR. (http://www. independent. co. uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-general-sani-abacha-1163944. html) (http://www. bbc. co. uk/history/people/adolf_hitler) (http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-africa-12305154) (http://www. bbc. co. uk/apprentice/series7/about. shtml) (http://www. thefamouspeople. com/profiles/mahatma-gandhi-55. php)