Business Profile
Mentoring, as a concept, traces its origins to Greek mythology, specifically to the decision by Odysseus to give the responsibility for the education of his son to his trusted friend Mentor. Mentor was an older, more experienced person who thereby took it upon himself to impart to the younger man his knowledge, experience and advice, in a very personal, almost pastoral, way, and in total confidence.
So it is with executive mentoring. It is fundamentally a private, often confidential, one on one relationship between, typically, an older, experienced executive and another executive who is probably facing difficult problems or issues for the first time. The mentor/mentee relationship involves the transfer of support, guidance, knowledge, experience and advice from the former to the latter. It is generally not a highly structured relationship in the manner of, for instance, executive training or coaching; these will typically involve structured training courses to target specifically identified areas of performance weakness over a short time frame. The mentor’s role is long term, non bureaucratic, highly personal and tailored to the individual mentee’s situation, with the agenda set by the mentee.
The Newbury-based MDmentors Ltd provides a very specific form of mentoring to senior executives, normally the owners or managing directors, of privately owned businesses with revenues up to £20m per annum. These executives may well, particularly at the present time, be struggling, not just with the normal loneliness and stress of their roles, but with specific problems related to declining revenues, refinancing needs, cost reduction programmes, the rescheduling of tax payments, personnel issues or a plethora of other challenges. They may be looking to sell their business or acquire other businesses.
MDmentors Ltd offers highly confidential executive mentoring based on more than 25 years’ experience of managing small and medium sized businesses, including companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange, and including through the last major recession in 1990.The mentoring relationship with a new mentee is only entered into after an initial (free) meeting to evaluate the issues, ensure the compatibility of personalities and agree on how the relationship will work in practice.
Assuming the parties are prepared to enter into the relationship, the mentor will make himself available at any reasonable time by phone, email or in person to provide support, guidance and advice to the mentee. This support is available from as little as £450 plus vat a month - based on an annual contract.
The mentor’s objective, like that of Mentor himself, is to ensure that the mentee, as with Odysseus’ son, benefits from his own experience.
For a free, confidential mentor review meeting telephone MDmentors Ltd on (01635) 814455, or e-mail: mdmentors@btinternet.com
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