Mentoring

Mentoring is one person sharing their knowledge, skills and experience to assist others to progress in their careers

Mentoring is one person sharing their knowledge, skills and experience to assist others to progress in their careers. Mentors are prepared to offer help as the need arises - within agreed bounds. Mentoring is rather more than ‘giving advice’, or passing on what your experience was in a particular area or situation.

It's about motivating and empowering the other person to identify their own issues and goals, and helping them to find ways of resolving or reaching them - not by doing it for them, or expecting them to ‘do it the way I did it’, but by understanding and respecting different ways of working.

The LSE mentoring scheme

LSE has a formal mentoring scheme for Professional Service Staff. 

As a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome mentors from diverse backgrounds, including people with disabilities to come forward.

If you would like a mentor please complete the mentor request form and return it to HR.Learning@lse.ac.uk. Once we have matched you with a mentor that individual will be in touch with you to set up your intial meeting. 

Similarly if you would like to volunteeer to be a mentor, complete the volunteer to be a mentor form. We will then organsie for you to attend the next available training session which we run termly.

What's in it for me?

As mentee

  • change/achieve your goals more quickly and effectively than working alone

  • helps build a network of expertise to draw on, benefiting both yourself and others 

As mentor

  • Mentoring is voluntary but extremely rewarding, and can benefit your own skills, development and career progression

  • you need to be the sort of person who wants others to succeed, and have or can develop the skills needed to support them.

Mentors can.....

  • Act as an impartial sounding board.

  • Create valuable space and time for you to ‘stand back’ and review where you are now, where you want to get to, and how best to get there.

  • Contribute viewpoints, advice, and information from their own knowledge, experience and expertise.

  • Although mentoring is not counselling or therapy, it can assist you in achieveing changes and goals that enhance both your professional and personal life.

Types of mentoring

Induction mentoring

A mentor can be assigned to you as a new member of staff, to help you orientate yourself to the School and its procedures, policies, sources of help and information, location of key equipment — and to help you ‘survive’ your first few weeks in a new post.

Developmental mentoring

Mentoring can provide individuals with role models and may be a means of providing information about career and training opportunities (internal and external).

It can widen support networks, provides motivation and can improve confidence. With developmental mentoring an experienced mentor helps you to develop your strengths and potential, and identify your changing needs, values, aspirations, and what's most important to you.

LSE Guide to Mentoring

Whether you're new to mentoring, want a refresher, or simply would like some guidance on how to go about the mentoring journey, have a look at our Guide to Mentoring for Members of Staff

How to apply

If you are interested in LSE's Mentoring Scheme, BAME Mentoring or are required to be mentored as part of a developmental programme, please have a look at our updated Guide to the Mentoring for Members of Staff (also mentioned in the section above)