"Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being." -Kevin Kruse
OPEN SYSTEM MENTORING
Open Mentoring in Action
Protégé > Expert
Protégé > Inspirational resource
Protégé > Child
DEFINITION:
Protégé-Driven/ Focused yet Flexible
In an Open Mentoring system, the protégé is the key initiator, process director (and re-director) and chief beneficiary.
Key Benefits
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Protégés who assume leadership over their mentoring endeavors are often more motivated and energized to work to achieve their dreams. The journey becomes their true magnum opus.
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By engaging a range of resources simultaneously, protégés fortify their arsenal of skills, ideas, inspirations, and expertise. Often, they find that the resource-rich environment is superior to the value received from any single source.
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Mentor burnout is less common when multiple resources are employed. And the loss of a mentoring resource does not devastate the initiative to the extent that it would in a closed (one-to-one) arrangement.
Possible limitations
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Because of the considerable responsibility and accountability placed on the protégé, this type of initiative can be more difficult to manage than a one-to-one arrangement.
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Drawing together numerous resources to succeed, the protégé’s engagement with any one resource may be less intimate and less intense relative to closed-system mentoring.
