- The application period for mentoring, both as a mentor and to receive mentoring, opens in November and the kick-off The official programme will take place in February 2016.
- The Chamber, in collaboration with the European School of Coaching, is launching the 4th edition of the Mentor Programme.
EEC, a leading company in the coaching sector in Spain, has been the indispensable new partner of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Sweden for its Mentor Programme since October. Both entities have united their commitment and steadfast dedication to the values of mentoring through a collaboration agreement for the coordination, management and professionalisation of the IV edition.
The Mentor Programme, launched by the Swedish-Spanish Chamber of Commerce three years ago, connects young people seeking professional guidance with executives from companies associated with the organisation. The aim is to encourage young talent to develop their full potential and help them achieve their professional goals.
The incorporation of the EEC into this project is especially valuable as they have solid experience not only in coaching but also in mentoring projects similar to this one. In this regard, Eva López-Acevedo, coach, executive director and founding partner of the European School of Coaching, states: “mentoring connects us with the essence of what we do at the EEC, which is to develop people.”.
Registration is now open
The application period will be open from 1st to 31st November. The programme is aimed at senior managers or individuals with extensive work experience, willing to invest time and energy in sharing knowledge and experiences, as well as committing to the young person's process and maintaining enthusiastic and disinterested follow-up. On the other hand, the programme is aimed at young people who want to undergo this experience and give a boost to their professional careers. The latter must be under 38 years of age and be actively working, and the mentors must be professionals from one of the companies associated with the Chamber, whether Swedish or Spanish companies. The programme specifically aims to pair a Spanish mentor with a Swedish mentee, or vice versa, with the intention that participants also benefit from cultural exchange.
To have a good conversation
This upcoming edition anticipates that participants taking on the role of mentor or mentee will hold between 5 and 10 individual meetings and, furthermore, receive specific training from the EEC to effectively fulfil their role, thereby making the most of the programme. These training modules will allow participants to reinforce and enhance their development during the mentoring process. “Mentors must also prepare themselves, as professional experience alone is not enough to help others grow,” explains Eva López-Acevedo.
Specifically, the training provided by the EEC will focus on developing conversational skills for better listening, providing effective feedback, setting and aligning objectives, or helping to define action plans that align with each mentee's professional goals. "These skills will not only help participants in their mentoring relationship but will also serve them in their own personal and professional development," assures Eva López-Acevedo.
What is mentoring
The discipline of mentoring has a lot in common with coaching without being exactly the same, explains Eva López-Acevedo, who defines mentoring as the action of “advising and accompanying someone else to work on the different areas that will allow them to develop their professional career.” Something that she assures “has a lot to do with coaching,” although, she clarifies, in coaching “the perspective is different. There is no room for advice in coaching.” And that, she assures, is a “crucial” difference.
“A mentor can offer suggestions and advice based on their experience,” continues the expert, an contribution that lies outside the scope of a coach, whose role is to “create awareness in the other person so that they can see reality for themselves from a new perspective and thus discover a new range of possibilities for action”. Among the concepts that mentoring and coaching do share are that in both, the relationship must be based on trust and that their aim is the development and achievement of better results for the other person.
Coaching, yes, for mentors
On the other hand, company executives wishing to participate as mentors in this fourth edition of the Mentor Programme will have the opportunity, thanks to the collaboration agreement reached between the Spanish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce and the EEC, to access an individual coaching process specifically designed for them, delivered by expert professional coaches.
More information and registration at www.cchs.es
