How ‘Mentoring’ is transforming students at IES-MCRC

The term "Mentor" is from the Greek poet Homer’s, The Odyssey. When Odysseus was about to battle the long Trojan War, he discovered that he has left Telemachus behind him, his only successor. He hired a trusted family friend, Mentor, as a tutor for Telie. Mentor was both smart and cautious. Those are the two main elements of world-class mentorship.

“Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be,” said Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring.

Mentoring is an art of focusing on one person. Mentor truly enjoys this journey as an advisor towards mastery

Randy Pausch has well said in ‘The Last Lecture’ that a mentor’s job is to teach mentees how to see their minds are growing, in the same way, they can see their muscles grow when they look in a mirror. Mentors need to make sure that mentees are exerting themselves. Praise them when they deserve and to tell them honestly when they have to work harder.

Mentoring helps to create an environment to nurture innovation and creativity and bring the best out of the mentees.  The role of a mentor is very important. They help develop mentee’s passion into a career, helps them reach their potential by pushing the mentees forward to overcome their insecurities and fears.  The mentor-mentee relationship transcends beyond the boundaries of the organisation. They help the mentee to look at the bigger picture.

Mentoring at IES Management College and Research Centre is in practice and a distinguishing feature for a very long time. In fact, IES-MCRC was among the pioneering institutes in mentoring. The purpose of mentoring is manifold. It helps to increase the professional network, channel knowledge gained from the experience of others, give honest and constructive feedback and support the professional growth of the students. The mentor acts as a positive role model; coach and advisor who motivates the mentees; encourages them for independent decision making; guides them in coping with new pedagogy; and, removal of mental blocks. They are trustworthy, good listener and communicator. They step in when the mentee is confused about career choice and plays an important role in the career and life of the mentee.

In the feedback assessment conducted every year, this initiative ranks very high in the minds of the graduating students.  In addition to faculty mentoring, we also have alumni mentoring, thereby giving insight from practicing industry and corporate professionals.

All faculty members actively participate in the mentoring program right from the planning stage. Each faculty member is assigned an appropriate number of mentees. The mentees receive an informal periodic rating of their performance and the whole process is overseen by the Chief Mentor, who, along with the senior members of the faculty team runs customised mentoring in selected cases. It is a journey jointly undertaken by mentors and their mentees.

To sum it up, behind every successful person, there is one elementary truth: Somewhere, somehow, someone cared about their growth and development. This, someone, was their ‘Mentor’.

About the Author:

Vijay R Shahane, is a Professor of General Management, Ethics and Business Strategy at IES-MCRC. He is a Chemical Engineer from the University of Mumbai and Former Managing director of Universe India Limited. Professor Shahane is Chief Mentor at IES-MCRC guiding students & faculty members. He has over 50 years of experience in both industry and Academia.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha