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Mentoring 
 Future Leaders

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<strong>Mentoring</strong> <strong>Future</strong> <strong>Leaders</strong><br />

3.<br />

The <strong>Mentoring</strong> Relationship<br />

The relationship is the primary vehicle to elicit, understand and handle the<br />

content and feelings involved in mentoring.<br />

As Miles Downey explains, “The relationship has to be sufficiently strong for<br />

the mentee to trust in the mentor and feel safe – to feel safe enough to say<br />

whatever is on his or her mind, to own up to mistakes and weaknesses, to<br />

suggest the absurd or the impossible; in a word, to be vulnerable. In fact, it<br />

is considerably more than that. The mentee must feel free to challenge the<br />

mentor and to give feedback – to say ‘This isn’t working’, or ‘I don’t<br />

understand the question,’ or ‘No, I don’t want to consider that option yet.<br />

This one is more interesting’.” (1999, p.88-89)<br />

© Learning Link International<strong>
</strong><br />

March 2005<br />

The Relationship Bridge<br />

Mentor Mentee<br />

Discussion<br />

• How did you manage to build lasting relationships in the past?<br />

• What kinds of behaviours have damaged some of your cherished<br />

relationships in the past?<br />

Module 3 - Building Trusting <strong>
</strong><br />

Relationships<br />

Page !1

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