MentorPRO’s Post

In the last 4 years, I've had the privilege of coaching, mentoring, and teaching over 500 learners. A recurring theme that comes up is the realization that the lack of self-advocacy often boils down to a communication challenge. Even for those who understand the importance of advocating for themselves and expressing their needs, articulating it can still be a hurdle. Here are my top 3 tips with examples of how to authentically articulate your achievements in a way that resonates: 1. 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭:    It's not just about listing your tasks - highlight how your actions contribute to the business. Saying, “I completed the project that's projected to increase revenue by X%” carries more weight than simply stating, “I completed my assigned project.” 2. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭:   Highlighting a willingness to learn and grow can help position you as someone who can be assigned increased scope and tougher responsibilities. Instead of just mentioning “This was a difficult problem,” try sharing additional context like “We didn’t have existing solutions for this problem, so I brushed up on industry knowledge to leverage the latest innovations in this area for our business.” 3. 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞:   Tailor your message to your audience. Understand what matters to them and position your wins accordingly. For example, if you're talking to a client-focused team, emphasizing “client satisfaction metrics” is better than just talking about engineering accomplishments. —— 📣 This important theme is why my upcoming cohort-based course, ‘Self-Advocacy for Growing Your Technology Career’, dedicates an entire module to mastering the language of self-advocacy. In this lesson, we'll construct a compelling narrative to propel your career forward and practice applying structured frameworks. Plus, I provide sample scripts featuring precise language you can use or adapt to effectively advocate for yourself. 🔗 If this resonates with you, check out the course linked below. The weekend-immersive session begins on April 20th. 💰 As a special offer, early birds who enroll by March 31st will receive a 10% discount. Drop a “sign me up” below, and I’ll share the discount code!

Had a few questions on calls last week about flash mentoring (which I mentioned in my previous post). Here is a more depth explanation of flash mentoring: ❓ What: Short coaching session which is a deep-dive into one specific subject ❓ Who: Anyone, but a focus on upskilling more junior members of the team who are looking to develop a skill or further their understanding of a particular topic. It can be 1:1 or a group session, depending on your team size. ❓ Where: If you work any days in the office, schedule the time in person. If you are remote, set up a dedicated meeting ❓ When: Regular intervals (see below) ❓ How: Here is how we recommend to organise flash mentoring, however there are other methods available online: 🤝 Discuss with your team: Would flash mentoring be useful? If so, what topics would they like to cover? What would they like to learn? Which skills do you think are useful for your team to develop?  📆 Schedule: Make dedicated time for the mentoring sessions, ensuring it fits into both yours and your team's schedule. E.g. don’t plan a 3 hour session in the same week you have a busy deadline. Prioritise the session and don’t cancel/postpone. 🗒 Prepare: Use the time properly. Think about what your team asked to learn and how you can deliver that knowledge. What are the best ways to demonstrate the skill? Do you need to invite them to a meeting or event? Do you need to bring a previous example? 🚀 Deliver: Make the session as open as possible, with lots of opportunities for constant questions and clarification. Bring the topic back to reality; how could the team member use the new skill instantly on their current projects or clients? 📈 Feedback: Ask how the session went, what was useful and how you can improve to make the time even more impactful in the future. Constant feedback also allows you to improve your own coaching skills. Have you tried flash mentoring? Would love to know in the comments.

Thanks Yousuf Idris for sharing your experience with mentorship, including the very tough emotional/psychological side of growth.

I had the amazing opportunity to pilot the 6-6-60 Peer Coaching concept at a local Primary School. The engagement, curiosity, exctitement and idea generation amongst these 12-13 yrs old young ladies was astounding and heartwarming. Each student had the opportunity to share their challenge/question with the group in a confidential space over 60 mins each time. The group validates, confirms and asks more question to make sure they understand what the individual is looking for from the group. Once the validation is complete, the student turns their back to the group so to take in all the ideas, suggestions, own experiences. In the last part the student shares their specific take aways as well as all group participants. The cycle is repeated over the no. of weeks equal to the group size. I truly believe in the power of Group Learning, Group Innovation and Idea Generation within a safe and confidential space and a structured group facilitation at any age, industry, company size, functions, roles and background. If you would like to find out more about the 6-6-60 Peer Coaching concept, please feel free to contact me via LinkedIn or sonja@prime-coaching.com. (the feedback is in German but I think Google can handle this translation for you)

3 Day Tutor Training facilitated by Dr. Gayatri Nehrusingh-Pajerowski, Ed.D from the Educational Opportunity Fund PCCC, Empowering others to learn and grow. I'm excited to share some valuable insights from our recent training! The training session was focused on developing our coaching skills goal-setting, and promoting respectful collaboration. Here's a summary of the key takeaways: 1. Using a coachingmindset: We explored different methods for effectively expressing our feelings, allowing for better communication and understanding within the team. 2. Goal Setting: We worked on outlining our short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals to ensure clarity and direction in our individual and team efforts. 3. Respectful Collaboration: An important aspect of the training was creating an agreement on respectful collaboration, where we embraced diverse ideas and viewpoints, creating a more inclusive and productive environment. 4. Coaching Practice: We delved into practicing all three levels of listening and developing our skills to support and coach students by asking powerful questions more effectively. 5. Effective Tutoring: We learned valuable methods for tutoring students without doing the work for them, allowing us to empower students and foster their independent learning. One significant shift in our approach was the focus on extracting information from students' minds rather than simply imparting knowledge to them. This change in strategy has the potential to reduce anxiety, enhance confidence, facilitate metacognition, and improve memory retention beyond exams. To implement these strategies, we can: 1. Document all activities conducted in class. 2. Engage in free recall to remember information in any order that comes to mind, promoting active retention. 3. Utilize flashcards as an effective tool for long-term learning. 4. Embrace a "Not Yet" mindset to reframe failures and encourage a growth-oriented outlook. For more tips and insights, I recommend checking out Barbara Oakley's video on this topic. It offers valuable advice for promoting effective learning and coaching practices. #TeachingTips #StudentSuccess #EffectiveLearning #Coaching #ContinuousImprovement

Mentor encourages mentees, help with problem-solving, and use active listening techniques. The mentor serves as a guide for mentees' behavior, values, and attitudes. Mentees benefit from engaging with a mentor who shares values and deep-level similarities with them. #HRE115#EntrepreneurshipManagement#CanadoreCollege#Mentorship https://lnkd.in/dD2iyTTJ

We're excited to share that T&S Mentor Match will once again be working with Marketplace Risk to bring IRL mentor sessions to the Marketplace Risk UK Summit on November 13-14, 2024! We have been working hard in the background to further develop T&S Mentor Match, and this is just a taste of what's coming. ❗We're currently accepting applications from folks who would like to be IRL mentors. Use this link to apply ➡️➡️ https://lnkd.in/gWCCweb3 —Frequently Asked Questions— - Anyone interested in mentoring is encouraged to apply; This is not limited to individuals who have already mentored with this program.  - Even if you have already mentored with T&S Mentor Match, you must still fill out this application. - Sessions might involve people looking for answers or understanding, career and industry advice, resume reviews, interview advice, networking practice, and more. - There will be a required onboarding session for all mentors prior to the session. - Sessions will take place IRL in London on November 13-14. You must be able to be physically present in London to take part.  - Mentor sessions will be 30 minutes each.  - Accepted mentors will receive a code to register for the Marketplace Risk UK Summit free of charge. You must be available for your scheduled mentor sessions, which means you may not be able to attend every conference session you're interested in. You will not be scheduled to mentor all day long, so there will be plenty of the conference for you to enjoy. You'll also be eligible to participate in the welcome events on November 12th. ❗Take Note: The deadline to apply as a mentor is Friday, November 1st, 2024❗ Click here to apply ➡️➡️ https://lnkd.in/gWCCweb3 Questions? Comment below - we’ll keep an eye out! —🤔 What is T&S Mentor Match?🤔--- T&S Mentor Match is a program started by Jeff Dunn and Katie Dunn last year to bring mentorship to anyone looking for guidance in the T&S space (or who are looking to transition into the space). Mentoring is personalized, 1:1 career coaching. Mentors can help with long and short term career planning, industry understanding, goal setting, leadership development, and everything in between. Our mentors are industry veterans who have been there, done that. They know the ins and outs and are living and breathing the industry on a daily basis. Mentors share their experience, knowledge, and expertise. Come mentor with us!

Are you prepared to unleash your peer coaching prowess in any work scenario? Join me in crafting a transformative microlearning course on Peer Coaching tailored for professionals in business and human care. This is non-hierarchical coaching y’all. That’s right, everyone is the coach. In the clip below, get a glimpse from the micro-learning course of Fihmiya Hamdan 🦋 and I demonstrating a powerful peer coaching tool in action Notice her: -Beginning to make an actionable plan for herself -Noticing what has worked for her in the past -Seeing a path forward to her current problem Details about the course: -4 concise modules -Utilizes a microlearning framework -Gain practical peer coaching tools for immediate application -Enhance peer and self-decision-making skills -Access transparent peer coaching frameworks and best practices -Job aides provided for on-the-job use -Designed for immediate tool utilization -Cost $29.00 Micro-course launch is August 20th! Get on the email list to be the first know when it is available for sale on my Human Tech Connect website. Fill out the link in comments. #MicroLearning #PeerCoaching

Mentoring, at its core, is talking to other people and sharing your experience. A successful mentoring relationship relies on the mentor (that’s you) being able to ask effective questions and listen to the answers. In this article it will be showed how to use effective questioning and active listening, and how one can use them at work to improve their mentoring practice. https://lnkd.in/dPhTT4uS

I love 1 on 1 conversation, either I'm getting mentored or I'm mentoring someone. Mentorship sparks motivation and it pushes you to take action. And when you execute, it can change your life. If ever you'll get the chance to work on 1 on 1 with a coach or mentor. Here are 5 tips to maximize the session: Tip 1: Craft Your Questions with Intention Yes, this is common knowledge but the true value lies in thoughtful preparation. Formulating your questions ahead of time ensures that your session is not only productive but also deeply enriching. Tip 2: Avoid Yes or No questions. or Google-lable questions. It's better to ask open-ended questions, so you can explore or get the perspective. You'll get more context if you do this which can enrich your understanding. Tip 3: Restrain the urge to interrupt. I understand you want to cover a lot and maximize the session, but getting quality answers is better than half-answered questions. By listening deeply, you’ll uncover more meaningful answers and the opportunity to ask even more insightful questions. Tip 4: Ask for insights, not knowledge. What's the difference? Insights are based on experience, a deeper understanding accompanied with action while knowledge is the accumulation of facts and information. Ask how they deal with a specific situation from an actual scenario. This is where true learning happens. Tip 5: Document Relentlessly, Reflect Deeply How? Record the meeting if it's online. Record using the voice recorder app if it's in person. This is crucial because you won't get everything in one go. Some of my greatest realizations came from reviewing recordings rather than the actual session. Remember to capture every detail. You could use your Notes app or Google Keep to take down notes, and then when I'm refining my notes I transfer them to my Notion Second Brain for better organization purposes.