Mentoring - Top Young 100

MENTORING IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE

What is it about?

Professionals – Managers within the delivery branch will provide huge value for participating students through mentoring, which involves the monitoring of a student's development throughout the project by discussing and evaluating the goals of the mentee, sharing knowledge and experience, and providing general support in dealing with issues met when facing practical challenges.

Who is a mentor and what is their role?

A mentor is first and foremost an active professional with passion – a manager in a widely regarded TSL branch. We're inviting individuals who wish to share their knowledge and experience with students. The role of a mentor provides opportunities to help participants solve problems, analyse ideas, and highlight mistakes, risks or challenges. The mentor remains objective, he does not judge the choices of a student, moreover the mentor inspires – they push students to cross their own barriers and work outside their comfort zones. A mentor encourages the student to develop their own methodology – they do not impose their own thinking patterns but they ask questions and encourage critical thinking, leading to individual solutions. Furthermore, a mentor is both student and business facing, and so can function as a thoroughfare for communication between both parties.

What's the benefit for the mentor?

As a passionate logistics professional already, a mentor gains great satisfaction from their input into the development of the most talented Polish logistics students, building their own prestige and image in the process. What's more, a mentor is given a unique chance to portray a positive image of his business within the job market and has a tangible impact in sustaining the image of Poland as a strong center of competence within the logistics market. Through their cooperation with students, a mentor is able to observe the prevailing standards of competance amongst the younger generation, which affords them a better understanding of the status quo within the talent pool and a better chance of finding the right young and talented people to cooperate with in turn. A mentor will also widen their own professional network through more extensive cooperation with other professionals from within their branch. Additional value for the mentor is provided throgh so called „reverse mentoring” - namely the ability to access feedback from the younger generation, understanding their expectations, needs and approaches, a combination of which prepares the mentor suitably for effective cooperation with the emerging generation.

RULES OF COOPERATION

Mentors and students will sign a so called „mentoring contract”. The contract regulates the general rules of cooperation between both parties, and lays out the requirements placed upon both mentor and student.The contract is flexible in order to personalise the nature of cooperation.

Cooperation between mentor and a student:

is a partnership relationship, oriented on discovering and developing the potential of a student,

is based on the ideals of inspiration, stimulation and leadership,
its goal is for the student to undertstend themselves better and develop with the help of a mentor,
is a cooperation founded on trust, where both the student and mentor have great respect for each other and keep all information and data private until such a time they make an official agreement to share it with a third party,
is based on objectivity from both sides, without judgment, but with a focus on personal development,