What Makes A Good Mentor

A Good Mentor Always Learns

The Toastmasters International Website is loaded with Easter eggs of information!  Here you can find educational materials free for download, recorded tips and speeches, information to help improve your speaking and leadership skills, and kits to improve your club.  One such free download from Toastmasters International I recently read came from the Successful

Club Series entitled; "Mentoring" (Click here).

A section worthwhile is a review of the essential qualities a mentor possesses.  Recognizing their importance and why they are considered essential not only helps one mentor more effectively, but it also boosts the club and provides benefit to the mentor as well. 

Toastmasters International recognizes the 10 essential characteristics of a mentor to be:
 

Available	Knowledgeable	Respectful
Flexible	Sensitive	A Good Listener
Confident	Considerate	Patient
	Supportive

 
When a new member joins Top of Texas Toastmasters, they are paired with a mentor.  But one of the things that drew me to Top of Texas was the genuine willingness demonstrated by all to help each other succeed, and in turn all of us succeed.  It’s no wonder Top of Texas has been recognized as a Distinguished Club for four years running.  They have the essential characteristics and I’ve found are always available.

Being a good mentor starts with being available.  Nothing else really happens unless there is a dialog and interaction between the mentor and the mentee.  Watching each other grow becomes part of the reward; another hidden Easter egg waiting to be discovered within the Toastmasters organization.

Submitted by

Ken Dorsey
VP Public Relations