Wednesday, March 25, 2015
2- Ethics and Boundries
My leadership style aligns most with that of a trusted friend. I am laid back and quiet as a leader and I like for people to come to their own decisions. With this style there is a possibility for being too close and involved. You want to be their friend but not their best friend or parent. You could buy them things or lend them things out of boundaries and that is not good. It does allows for more trust which is really important to learning about your mentees. Trust gets them to open up and tell you about them and school and how they function and you need to know that to help them and talk to them and help guide them to other people in the school that can help. You need to be passionate about wanting to work with the mentees and having them succeed. If your not passionate , they won't want to work with you. You need to be adaptable. Not all students have heads that work in the same way, not all meetings will go where you want.You need to be flexible and adapt to all situations that could come so it can be handled and meetings can go smooth. Being a friend allows you to get close but be trusted and passionate and that's what mentees need.
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Tawny, I love what you said about being adaptable because we will be working with many students all unique in their own situations, beliefs, and manner of dealing with things. This being said, being adaptable is a necessary part of this job. Not only will we need to be adaptable with our students and their individual meetings as well as group settings, we will also need to be adaptable in our own lives. For example, Alex always tells us that she has her phone on 24/7 in case we ever need her and I know that every time I've texted her she's responded within an hour or two. She's adapted her life to work with her students which I think is an important part of being a good mentor. Although, I understand not everyone will want their students calling at 3 am but that was just one example of how we can adapt ourselves for our students.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I think it's interesting that you identify with the "trusted friend" style and I agree you are a laid back and quiet person. Your approach will be comforting for your students I think and I hope that they will all feel safe with you because trying to be "friends" with your mentees is not a bad thing as long as you set those boundaries you mentioned!
Tawny, I agree with what you said about trust. This was a very strong point, because without trust, the mentee will not feel comfortable opening up to their mentor. I like how you focused your post around what the mentee would "need" rather that what the mentor would like to do. Great post!
ReplyDeleteTawny, I agree with what you said about trust. This was a very strong point, because without trust, the mentee will not feel comfortable opening up to their mentor. I like how you focused your post around what the mentee would "need" rather that what the mentor would like to do. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI chose trusted friend as well! I think this leadership style can be so powerful. Connection to others through friendship, I feel, is the best way to understand and help the community. You're so right about it allowing others to open up to you.. I said the same thing!
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