Matthew Midura’s Blog

As the semester winds down, I’ve begun to reflect on the mentoring process that we experienced over the past few months. I’ve learned about mentoring theory, the realities of nurturing a community of practice, and a great deal about myself.

Mentoring Theory – As an organizational leader in my profession, I’ve found this semester to be quite insightful. The theories and methodologies utlized in this course have taught me to examine the mentoring process from a completely different perspective. At first, I was a bit concerned about the “formality” of some of the processes within “The Mentor Guide,” but my concerns were put to rest as I applied these processes to my early interactions with my mentee group. I feel that these exercises helped lay the foundation for our course of action throughout the semester. I also found the Tao book to be a nice balance to our other readings throughout the semester. This “balance” was quite indicative of the balance needed in any mentoring relationship….the balance of the head and the heart.

Nurturing a Community of Practice vs. Individual Mentoring – I learned a great deal about the nuances of these very different mentoring options. Although similar in concept, both of these options yield different opportunities. As the nurturer of a community of practice, I’ve come to the realization that my role has focused on creating an environment that’s conducive to interaction of the CoP members. I feel that my successes as a mentor have been accomplished by building connections between the committee members and enabling the group to open new communication channels. This is quite different from the one-on-one mentoring scenario. In these situations, the mentor’s role shifts his or her focus to the individual. From my experiences thus far, the mentor and mentee form a deeper bond as the individual mentee’s growth takes center stage in this type of mentoring relationship.

Having said this, I have thoroughly enjoyed this process and I look forward to continuing my existing mentoring relationship and I plan to create an individual mentoring relationship in the coming months.