Mentoring in Nursing - Springer Publishing

1: mentoring: the evolvement of a network of mentors 19
2. Cultivation stage. The mentee is at the peak of development, sets
goals, and gains self-esteem, and generally works on both professional
and personal goal achievement.
3. Separation stage. The junior person starts to express independence.
It is a time of anxiety when the junior person separates from the
senior person. The intensity in the relationship begins to decrease
considerably.
4. Redefinition stage. There is a collegial relationship that allows for
more equality between the mentee and the mentor. The mentee
may feel abandoned, depending on where he or she is developmentally.
It is the time that most feel the relationship is no longer
needed or desired, or it becomes a more peer-like relationship
(Kram, 1983).
These stages of mentoring portray a cyclical process or a continuum
that is based on the individual’s developmental stages as he or
she matures in the relationship. Depending on where one is in one’s
life and career, one will generally be either mentoring someone, be
mentored, or be in a network that co-mentors one another. When one
reviews stages of the mentoring process, it is most common to think of
Kram’s (1983) universal stages.
However, it might be important to also factor into this framework
the idea that mentors may mentor differently depending on where
they are in developing their mentoring skills. Most mentors are made,
not born, and that is why it is interesting to review Bennis’s framework.
Mentoring is part of being a leader and, similar to developing
one’s leadership ability, one will need to build mentoring skills.
Bennis (2004) likens the stages that leaders go through to the seven
ages of man as described by Shakespeare in As You Like It. Bennis
describes the mentoring a leader experiences as the leader evolves:
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Stage 1, Infant Executive. It is crucial that during this stage, the
infant executive has a mentor. Bennis says that a mentor has
attributes of both male and female gender, which points to the
potential richness of the relationship and suggests that a mentor
relationship is deeper than just a teacher and student. In reality
“mentors do not materialize on their own” (p. 48); rather, the best
mentors are “usually recruited.” A characteristic of a true leader is
having the ability to “identify, woo, and win the mentors who will
change his/her life” (p. 48). This is comparable to the ability of an
experienced head-hunter who gets a client placed.
Stage 2, Schoolboy With Shining Face. The new leader should “make
a low-key entry” while he or she learns the culture and benefits