Having a mentor is a great way to explore the challenges faced in daily working life and examine how God is there with us wanting us to be his people in the world.
A ChaplaincyPlus mentoring arrangement is a one-to-one relationship, built on mutual trust and respect and grounded in Christian faith, deeply rooted in a desire to grow in spiritual as well as personal and professional maturity.
It is a “dynamic, intentional, voluntary relationship of trust in which one person (the mentor) enables another (the mentee) to maximise the grace of God within their lives and develop their potential in the service of God’s kingdom” (CPAS Mentoring Matters). The mentee uses the mentoring relationship to reflect on business challenges and opportunities, in order to learn and grow in confidence, independence and spiritual maturity.
Mentoring is a wonderful way of “giving on”, for business people who have received the benefit of support and encouragement from people ahead of them on the career track; knowing the value of what he, or she, received at an earlier stage in his/her career, the mentor is well placed to give similar support and encouragement to someone else.
A ChaplaincyPlus mentoring relationship offers:
• Informal support, encouragement and guidance, as well as a level of challenge, where appropriate.
• Space to reflect on practice, exploring situations and problems, mistakes and successes.
• “Off line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking” (Megginson and Clutterbuck, 1995, p13).
Members of the ChaplaincyPlus network are available to act as mentors to anyone who feels they might benefit from such a relationship. Our mentors have met with us to share our C+ mentoring framework and have signed up to our ChaplaincyPlus Pastoral Policy; and our mentors meet every six months to continue to reflect on their mentoring, and to learn together. All our mentors are Christians and have a range of business backgrounds and years’ experience in the workplace.
A mentoring relationship can help if you are thinking about a change of job or embarking on a new role. It can also be invaluable at other times of transition, chosen or unchosen – perhaps exploring the way forwards if your role becomes redundant, preparing for and transitioning into retirement or volunteering, selling a business or a stake in one, changing work patterns because of health constraints or caring responsibilities.
Experience suggests that having a mentor can be extremely beneficial so please contact andy.harris@chaplaincyplus.org.uk if you would like further information or to team up with one of our mentors.