Mentoring

I remember as a store manager our goal was to be the number one store in the country for weekly sales.  I had never been number one in anything before and was extremely motivated to raise sales so that we could accomplish that goal.  I remember the week that we became number one in the country my supervisor brought in a cake for everyone on the team to celebrate our accomplishment.  As people were eating the cake she asked to talk to me.

She then told me, that while being number one was quite an accomplishment, she thought that the store could at least increase sales by 10%.  That she knew that our team was so strong that it could achieve this sales increase.  As she was leaving she said, “I will come by tomorrow, tell me what I need to do to support you in accomplishing this sales increase” It was then when I realized what it was like to have a mentor with high expectations and provided high support.

In almost every high school there is some sort of mentoring program.  However, most of these programs provide little training to either the faculty or students who serve as mentors.  One of the first steps mentors might use is the research by David Yeager( read more). The researcher had students write essays which teachers provided written comments on each essay.  Half the students received a sticky note that said, “I am giving you these comments so that you will have feedback on your paper” and the other half received comments that said “I am giving you this feedback because I have high expectations and I know you can reach them”  The students did not know that research was being done. 

All students were given the opportunity to re-write the essay for a higher grade.  The results were striking in that about 80% of the students who received the encouraging feedback handed in a revised essay and the essay scored higher when marked by both the teacher and a researcher.

The researchers found that the encouraging feedback changed the perceptions of the students from one of mistrust to one of help.  When I think back to my store managing days I realized that my mentor used this wise intervention without knowing the research.  She also coupled her comments with my knowledge that if we failed in reaching our goals she would be there to support me and my team.

Mentoring is an important job that many of us do. Sometimes we need to give our mentee’s a little push and the support that they need to be successful.

As always, I appreciate your feedback