Support Staff as Coaches and Mentors: Tips to Unlock Your Potential

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Date

2019-04

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Ohio State University. Office of Outreach and Engagement

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Abstract

Unfortunately, workshops on coaching and mentoring have traditionally targeted people who manage other people. This has left out many support staff personnel who, quite frankly, may have similar or even greater capabilities to coach and mentor others. So how do you find opportunities to become a coach or mentor when serving in a non-managerial role? Can you make a positive impact on your organization by undertaking mentorships? Can you coach colleagues or even supervisors to help them improve? Could helping them, subsequently, help you succeed? This poster will answer these and other questions together, sharing base learning and opportunities to help others, our organizations, and ourselves.

Description

Unfortunately, workshops on coaching and mentoring have traditionally targeted people who manage other people. This has left out many support staff personnel who, quite frankly, may have similar or even greater capabilities to coach and mentor others. So how do you find opportunities to become a coach or mentor when serving in a non-managerial role? Can you make a positive impact on your organization by undertaking mentorships? Can you coach colleagues or even supervisors to help them improve? Could helping them, subsequently, help you succeed? Background: At some point in your life, you have likely had a coach or mentor. If you have come to understand the value of this type of input in life, you likely have one or more of these folks right now. But guess what: even though you grow by being coached or mentored, you can grow even more by coaching or mentoring someone else. But here's the question: How do you ensure you’re any good at it? How do you begin if you’ve never done it before? Effective coaches and mentors begin with a personal mission before assisting others. By finding that foundation upon which you are most grounded and comfortable, you can help others discover their "why" in life, and encourage them to achieve it. One's greatest intrinsic motivation is often the "why;" so understanding personal motivations can help you be a more effective coach or mentor.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Brian Raison, OSU Extension field specialist, leadership, raison.1@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)

Keywords

coaching, mentoring, support staff, CES, leadership

Citation

Engaged Scholars, v. 7 (2019).