1. The
background
to
mentoring
The
contents
covered
are:
What is mentoring?
How does mentoring fit into enterprise support?
What is mentoring not?
What is enterprise mentoring?
What is the role of the enterprise mentor?
What are the different types of mentoring relationship?
Mentors ‘pull’ - they don’t push
Mentoring in summary

2. The
background
to
mentoring
The aim of this section is to provide an insight into mentoring. It is intended to answer such
questions as:
• What is mentoring?
• How does mentoring fit into enterprise support?
• What is mentoring not?
• What is enterprise mentoring?
• What is the role of the enterprise mentor?
• What are the different types of mentoring relationship?
• Mentors pull - they don’t push
What
is
mentoring?
word ‘mentor’ comes from the Greek myth in which the legendary king Odysseus went off
The
to fight in the Trojan Wars, entrusting the care of his son to a friend called Mentor. The word
actually means ‘enduring’ and is usually used to describe a sustained relationship between an
experienced person and someone who is in the initial stages of their development. The word has
become synonymous with the idea of a trusted adviser - a friend, teacher, or wise person. The
Oxford English Dictionary defines a mentor as an ‘experienced and trusted adviser’.

3. How
does
mentoring
fit
into
enterprise
support?
What
is
enterprise
support?
The term ‘enterprise support’ covers a wide range of activities that provide support for a business,
whether it is already up and running or just starting out. Enterprise support gives the business
owner the help they need to start, live and grow - in other words, to survive and thrive.
Outsiders can bring an objective eye to decision-making and sometimes see things the business
owner has missed. Decisions are always in the hands of the business owner, of course. A mentor
can be invaluable in guiding the business owner to identify the support they need, consider their
options and get new information. The mentor’s role is to be a trusted confidant, helping the mentee
to make wise choices.
Sources
of
enterprise
support
Support comes in many guises and from many different sources, from a quick chat with a friend
who has experience of running a business, to the formal support provided by a professional
adviser. Sources include:
• online information portals such as businesslink.org.uk • local enterprise agencies
• web-based forums and networking groups • local authorities
• small business membership organisations • trade associations
• accountancy practices • professional institutes
• banks • colleges and universities
• business consultancies • mentoring organisations.
Types
of
enterprise
support
Mentoring is just one type of enterprise support, each of which is used in different circumstances
and for different reasons; a business may use a number of different types of support at the same
time. The mentor needs to be aware of the other types of support available so that they can point
the mentee in the right direction if necessary.
The main types of enterprise support are shown in this diagram. What they all have in common is
that the client - or mentee - is at the centre.

5. What
is
mentoring
not?
is important to keep a clear focus, otherwise a lot of time can be wasted on activities that aren’t
It
strictly part of the mentoring brief. It’s not just a matter of time - it’s the mentor’s responsibility to
perform a very specific role for the mentee and to be aware of what is and is not part of that role.
The style of the process - for example, how formal or informal it is - is very much up to the mentor
and mentee. However, there are some things that are definitely not part of the mentor’s role.
• Acting as a parent. The mentee holds the reins, not the mentor. The mentor might sense that
the mentee would like them to take control and ‘babysit’ them, in which case they should make it
clear that the responsibility lies with the mentee.
• Acting as a counsellor. The mentor is not the person to ‘fix’ things when the mentee needs
help with a practical, personal or health problem. In such cases, the mentor should make sure
they’re armed with some basic details of people/organisations who can help. Then they can
pass these to the mentee and return to the business of mentoring.
• An excuse for the mentee to moan. The mentor’s job is not to listen to the mentee’s problems,
so if they arrive with a list of woes and expect to spend the session on these, the mentor
should gently put them right and steer them in a more positive direction.
• Being the mentee’s friend. That doesn’t mean the mentor should be completely detached -
of course, they can be friendly! But this role means the mentor can be completely honest -
perhaps sometimes even blunt - in a way that would be difficult for a friend. It’s important
that the mentor doesn’t let the boundaries become blurred.
• Dispensing discipline. Just as the mentor is not there to look after the mentee, they are not
there to tell them off if they make a mistake or aren’t working hard enough. If the mentor
notices the mentee isn’t pulling their weight, they should simply tell them so. The mentee’s
success or failure is not the mentor’s responsibility - it’s their own.
• Being a god. No matter how much experience and knowledge the mentor has, they are not
expected to have all the answers. Their role is not to tell the mentee what to do, but to guide,
support and encourage them to progress along their own path.

6. What
is
enterprise
mentoring?
effective enterprise mentoring relationship gives the mentee an opportunity to receive short-,
An
medium- or long-term personal and professional support. The relationship enables the mentee to
explore his or her personal and professional situation in order to develop goals that will have
a positive impact on their business enterprise. The mentor should have the personal experience
and skills to give the enterprise owner the right level of support, but it is equally important for
the mentoring to be done in the most appropriate way. Mentoring is based on establishing
a relationship based on equality, openness and trust. Above all, it should be very supportive.
In a good enterprise mentoring relationship, the mentor encourages the enterprise owner to reflect
on his or her own personal and professional experiences, and shares his or her own personal and
professional experiences as well. In this way, the mentor supports the enterprise owner to devise
new or more effective ways to approach business problems and challenges.

7. What
is
the
role
of
the
enterprise
mentor?
enterprise mentor’s role is multi-faceted and requires good levels of skill and self-awareness.
The
• Enterprise mentors work with a wide variety of people in all sorts of markets, who have a
wide variety of strengths and development needs. The mentor therefore needs to be able
to adapt his or her style and behaviour to suit each mentee and each business situation.
The mentor’s role is to guide the mentee to look at a wide variety of options and consider
alternative courses of action in order to solve problems for themselves, rather than to
give them answers or provide solutions.
• For most mentoring relationships, the main objective is for the mentee to gain new personal
skills, experiences and knowledge that will lead to new insights, a greater vision and new
attitudes and behaviour. These, in turn, lead to better personal and business performance.
The role of the mentor is to release and develop the mentee’s own resourcefulness.
• It is not the place of a mentor to tell the mentee what they should do. Only the mentee can
decide what goals or actions they will implement - after all, the mentee is the one who will live
with the results. This does not mean the mentor should not offer useful information, but that
it is up to the mentee to decide whether to use it. So mentoring does not mean giving advice.
Giving advice implies the mentor ‘knows best’, and it also leads to dependency - the opposite
of what the mentor is trying to achieve.

8. What
are
the
different
types
of
mentoring
rela@onship?
Face-­‐to-­‐face,
one-­‐to-­‐one
mentoring
The vast majority of mentoring is done face to face and usually on a one-to-one basis. This allows
the mentor to focus 100% on the opportunities of the individual mentee. The advantage of face-to-
face individual mentoring is that the mentor can gather an enormous amount of information from
both verbal and non-verbal communication.
Face-­‐to-­‐face
group
mentoring
(peer
mentoring)
type of mentoring is becoming more popular in business mentoring. In this format, a small
This
group of between six and eight business owners come together to discuss their opportunities.
The group acts as a sounding board, taking on the role of peer mentor, to help its individual
members examine their issues from different perspectives. The advantage of this type of mentoring
is that the group of peers can provide a number of different experiences and viewpoints to help
and support its members. In such situations, the actual mentor acts as a facilitator to the group.
Telephone
mentoring
Telephone mentoring is usually part of a blended mentoring approach, used in tandem with
face-to-face mentoring. It is provided on a one-to-one basis, so has the advantage of being
focused on the mentee’s specific issues. This method is also extremely flexible.
e-­‐mentoring
Like telephone mentoring, e-mentoring is often part of a blended mentoring approach but
it can also be used on its own. It is provided on a one-to-one basis and has the advantage
of being able to focus on specific issues. The mentee can also provide a lot more written
information than with other types of mentoring, which may allow the mentor more time
to consider the information before deciding on potential options for a course of action.

9. Mentors
‘pull’
-­‐
they
don’t
push
The following diagram shows the ‘pulling’ nature of the mentoring role.

10. Mentoring
in
summary
Mentoring is:
• a one-to-one relationship over a period of time between a less experienced person (mentee)
and an established business person (mentor), which provides consistent support, guidance
and practical help
• a process by which an experienced business person shares their personal skills, knowledge
and experience with another person
• a means of enabling a less experienced person to gain the necessary skills, knowledge
and confidence to be able to perform at a higher level
• an opportunity for a less experienced person to gain access to impartial, non-judgemental
guidance and support
• a process of working together to achieve predetermined goals and objectives
• a two-way process through which both parties derive satisfaction from the progress, and
success is attained through working together.
The mentoring relationship is voluntary for both parties and, although it is usually designed
for a set period of sessions, it may be ended at any time by either the mentee or the mentor.