Saturday, September 14, 2019
Mentoring: A Way of Life -an integrative paper of the course ‘Art of Mentoring’ Essay
In this course, â€Å"Art of Mentoring†, I learned the relevance of mentoring in education, counseling ministry and self-directed learning of graduate students. The objective of the course was to encourage us students to use mentoring in different fields of profession and in service to the religious community. Having finished the course, I am inspired to use the concepts of mentoring in my personal education and be more effective in my profession, other involvements, as well using these concepts in my personal life. I realized that mentoring is a very broad term in a sense that it encompasses profession and organizational duties because it involves sharing of lives and experiences so as to develop ones holistic identity. The term is generally used to refer to the relationship between a mentor, who has the mastery, experience wisdom passion for a profession; and a mentee, who has equal passion to learn from the mentor’s knowledge and experiences (http://www.managementhelp.org/guiding/mentrng/mentrng.htm). Our history tells us that the concept and method of mentoring has been long practiced even before the word came about. When men taught basic skills like hunting and farming, they did it through the use of modeling or mentoring (Cagle, 2004). Now in the 21st century there is an increasing need of mentoring in different fields of profession. And I have come to the conclusion that mentoring is one of the most effective means of influencing and training individuals to be dynamic and efficient leaders, rich in their personal professions in a developing community. The Bible itself shows mentoring as a way of training individuals for leadership, as what is happening in the Church today (Cagle, 2004).  .             I learned that mentoring is also very substantial in the academe, especially in graduate schools. To develop professional excellence, each student should have professors or advisers who have a strong interest in their growth not just as professionals, but as dynamic individuals, and guide them to that path.  Self-directed adult learning on the other hand, although it is more informal and not necessarily academic, can also be more effective when used with mentoring.            As Christians, we are also called to influence the society with godly leadership. Christian leaders in the community can use mentoring to train and guide their subordinates in promoting righteous and godly leadership. I believe that people in the society are looking for individuals who can mentor and motivate them to be better and excellent individuals. Now I understand that I have an important role in the development of my own sphere of influence, where I can help my colleagues to be godly citizens by mentoring them through the use of the Bible and living a godly lifestyle. I then realized that this is one way of personal leadership, that through a deep understanding of godly values and good lifestyle, I can mentor other individuals to be good citizens and future leaders in our community.            Now with the use of mentoring, church growth, especially in rural areas, can accelerate rapidly (Cagle, 2004). Training and mentoring effective church leaders will result to a growth in their individual churches. As Jesus Christ taught his disciples by mentoring, so they followed his examples and this paved the way for rapid church growth. Mentoring, which also has the characteristic of using motivation and the boosting of self-esteem, can be used in having an effective counseling ministry, where ministers could help and guide a person to his full potential.            After learning about mentoring and having my personal insights on the method of effective influence, I now believe I can influence my peers better through the art of mentoring. I believe mentoring can occur in two ways. One way could start with an individual who needs another individual capable of guiding and mentoring him to his fullest potential. Then having found the suitable person, the mentor now decides to accept the responsibility of guiding and the mentee. And from there the relationship would develop into a fruitful, guided growth of the individual. On the other hand, mentoring can start with an older person, who sees the potential in an individual, to develop and with whom he can impart his skills and knowledge in a specific field of profession or life in general. Then now it is up to the chosen individual to accept the mentor’s offer to be guided and influenced for his personal excellent growth as an individual. And when finally accepted, the mentoring process now begins.             Although mentoring can be used in large scale institutions like universities and the Church, I believe it is also a way of influencing our peers and colleagues with our personal lifestyles. Like what I said earlier, I believe that mentoring is also a form of leadership. Now, having learned the concept and art of mentoring, I am now confident to influence the young people I know to be good citizens as well as future leaders in the community. Reference: Cagle, J. (2004). Journal of Asian Missions. Pp. 235-244 (March, 2004) http://www.managementhelp.org/guiding/mentrng/mentrng.htm Â
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