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What is the competency framework of an entrepreneur mentor?
The competency framework of an entrepreneur mentor is a set of skills, knowledge and abilities necessary for a mentor to provide effective and valuable support to entrepreneurs in the development and growth of their businesses. This framework provides a framework for understanding the key areas in which a mentor should be competent and serves as a guide for the mentor's professional development.
In the framework we have chosen for mentorDay, we have identified eight competencies that a mentor must have in order to help entrepreneurs as much as possible; these are good practices necessary to accompany and add value in the acceleration of companies. The more than 450 mentors of mentorDay have accumulated a lot of experience accompanying more than 1,000 entrepreneurs that we want to share with other mentors, in a very practical format. As mentors, we need to acquire these skills to guide the conversation with the entrepreneur and provide maximum value.
Competences 1 and 2 only affect us as mentors, the other competences 3-8 need to be developed within the mentoring session by working with the entrepreneur, by practising. These competencies are supported by Competency Indicators (CI), which are examples, evidence of mentor behaviour and principles that serve as criteria for improvement. In the mentorDay programme you will find tips, tasks and exercises to acquire each of the skills required to be a good mentor. You will be able to improve each of these skills required to be a good mentor who accompanies entrepreneurs, throughout the programme developed by mentorDay (+).
These are the competencies we will work on throughout the mentorDay mentoring accreditation programme:
1ST MENTOR COMPETENCY. UNDERSTANDING ONESELF.
- Mentee. Requirements to be fulfilled by the entrepreneur to be mentored. Coachability (+).
- Profile of the mentor who accompanies entrepreneurs on mentorDay
- Mentor self-awareness (+).
- Know the people. Avoid biases of entrepreneurs and mentors that lead to mistakes (+).
- Code of ethics for mentors and coaches (+).
2ND MENTOR COMPETENCE. COMMITMENT TO SELF-DEVELOPMENT.
- Mentor and entrepreneur learning (+).
- Entrepreneur's limiting beliefs (+).
- Training programme to accredit mentors (+).
- Requirements, skills and qualities to be a good mentor (+).
3RD MENTOR COMPETENCE. MANAGING THE MENTOR-ENTREPRENEUR CONTRACT
- Role of the mentor. Who is a mentor and how does he/she help (+).
- What is mentoring for entrepreneurs (+).
- Different roles: mentor, teacher, consultant, advisor, counsellor, advisor, investor, expert (+).
- Matching. The search for the best mentor for each entrepreneur (+).
- Initial mentor-entrepreneur discovery session. Key factors at the beginning of the mentoring relationship (+).
- Setting objectives, goals of the entrepreneur (+).
- Mentoring contract. Commitments of the mentor and the entrepreneur (+).
4TH MENTOR COMPETENCY. BUILDING THE MENTOR-MIND-MENTORDAY RELATIONSHIP
- Stages of the mentoring relationship with entrepreneurs (+).
- Generate trust and closeness in mentoring entrepreneurs (+).
- Active listening at all levels. exploring and listening with empathy (+).
- Structure and content of mentoring sessions for entrepreneurs. Mentoring (+).
5TH MENTOR COMPETENCE. FACILITATING ENTREPRENEURIAL INSIGHT AND LEARNING
- Exploring the entrepreneur's reality and environment: where does the entrepreneur start from (+)?
- The 5 C's model (+).
- The art of questioning in mentoring (+).
6TH MENTOR COMPETENCE. GOAL, RESULT AND ACTION ORIENTATION
- Orientation to objectives, results and actions in mentoring for entrepreneurs (+).
- Adaptive challenges and technical challenges of the entrepreneur (+).
- Keys to focus the entrepreneur's challenge in the mentoring session (+).
- Promote the creation of the entrepreneur impact action plan. PDCA (+).
- How to give feedback to the entrepreneur in mentoring (+).
7TH MENTOR COMPETENCE. USE OF MODELS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES IN MENTORING.
- The power of metaphors in mentoring entrepreneurs (+).
- Sort out and diagnose the missing entrepreneur (+).
- Generate perspective in the entrepreneur during the mentoring session (+).
- Making the entrepreneur's thinking tangible in mentoring (+).
- Connecting with the entrepreneur's sense of self during the mentoring session (+).
8. MENTOR COMPETENCE. EVALUATION
- Evaluation before, during and after each mentoring session (+).
- Closing of the mentoring programme (+).
Why is it necessary to have a competency framework for mentors?
IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE A COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR MENTORS FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
- Orientation and structure: A competency framework provides a clear and structured guide for mentors, helping them to understand the skills, knowledge and qualities needed to provide effective support to entrepreneurs. This allows mentors to focus on specific areas of professional development and improve their mentoring practice.
- Quality and effectiveness of mentoring: A competency framework sets a quality standard for mentoring, ensuring that mentors have the necessary skills and knowledge to guide and support entrepreneurs effectively. This increases the likelihood that entrepreneurs will achieve their goals and succeed in their businesses.
- Evaluation and professional development: A competency framework allows mentors to assess their current skills and knowledge, identify areas for improvement and track their progress over time. This encourages continuous professional development and improvement of mentoring skills.
- Communication and collaboration: A common competence framework facilitates communication and collaboration between mentors, entrepreneurs and other key actors. This enhances mutual understanding, knowledge sharing and the building of strong and supportive relationships.
- Credibility and trust: A competency framework establishes clear and objective criteria for assessing the capacity of mentors. This increases credibility and trust in the mentoring process, both for entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- Training and accreditation: A competency framework can serve as a basis for the design and implementation of training and accreditation programmes for mentors. This ensures that mentors receive appropriate training and are aligned with the needs and objectives of the entrepreneurs they support.
- Consistency and coherence: A competency framework provides a coherent and consistent approach to mentoring, allowing for better comparison and evaluation of the effectiveness of different mentors and mentoring programmes.
In a nutshell, A competency framework for mentors is needed to guide professional development, ensure the quality and effectiveness of mentoring, facilitate communication and collaboration, enhance credibility and trust in the mentoring process, and provide a basis for mentor training and accreditation.
These factors contribute to improving the support and guidance provided to entrepreneurs and, ultimately, to their business success and growth.
TASK
NOW THAT YOU ARE CLEARER ABOUT THE FRAMEWORK OF COMPETENCES THAT A MENTOR SHOULD DEVELOP TO IMPROVE HIS OR HER ACCOMPANIMENT OF AN ENTREPRENEUR, REFLECT AND APPLY:
- Am I willing to train myself to bring more value to entrepreneurs?
- What are your expectations from the mentoring programme?
CASE STUDY: JUAN, A SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONAL
Juan has over 15 years of experience in the business world, working in various leadership roles in marketing and sales. Throughout his career, he has gained valuable skills and knowledge that he would like to share with budding entrepreneurs. John has a passion for helping others and believes he can be a good mentor. However, he is unsure how to get started and what skills and competencies are needed to be an effective mentor.
To address this challenge, Juan decides to research the competency framework for mentoring entrepreneurs.
FINDS THAT THE FRAMEWORK INCLUDES SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN KEY AREAS SUCH AS:
- Understanding yourself and entrepreneurs: Juan needs to develop self-awareness skills, as well as understanding the specific needs and challenges of the entrepreneurs he plans to mentor.
- Commitment to self-development: John must be willing to invest time and resources in his own professional growth and development as a mentor.
- Management of the mentor-entrepreneur contract: Juan must learn to set and manage clear expectations in his relationship with entrepreneurs, including the definition of specific objectives and goals.
- Building strong relationships: Juan needs to develop skills to build trust and closeness with entrepreneurs, including active listening and empathy.
- Facilitating entrepreneurial insight and learning: Juan must be able to guide entrepreneurs through the process of awareness, reflection and learning, using powerful questions and coaching techniques.
- Orientation towards objectives, results and actions: Juan needs to focus on helping entrepreneurs define and achieve specific and measurable objectives and develop effective action plans.
- Use of models, tools and techniques: John should familiarise himself with various mentoring tools and techniques, such as the use of metaphors and diagnostic approaches, to support the mentoring process.
- Evaluation: Juan must learn to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of his mentoring and adjust his approach as necessary to maximise the impact on entrepreneurs.
With this knowledge in hand, Juan decides to enrol in a training and accreditation programme for mentors of entrepreneurs, where he learns about these key competencies and how to apply them in his mentoring practice.
Throughout the programme, Juan participates in practical activities, observes other experienced mentors and receives feedback on his mentoring approach.
After completing the training programme, Juan feels more confident and ready to begin his journey as an entrepreneur mentor. He joins a local network of mentors and starts working with entrepreneurs at different stages of development, applying his newly acquired skills and knowledge to help them achieve their goals and succeed in their businesses.
QUIZ
You can also consult other Related TIPs.
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. I am willing to train myself to bring more value to entrepreneurs and to grow as a professional.
My expectations from the programme are to acquire the skills to dedicate myself to the world of mentoring in order to help entrepreneurs develop their training projects,
It is very interesting the competences that mentors must acquire to help the entrepreneur.
I am willing to be trained. My expectations are to take proven methodological references and experience from mentors who have been developing this activity for years.
Fran register for the next workshop to accredit new mentors https://mentorday.es/ser-mentor/
I am interested in developing and/or deepening the skills that will help to have a vision "From the balcony", allowing to help entrepreneurs to make their proposals sustainable and scalable. I expect the programme to provide us with a comprehensive vision from different perspectives in order to deepen the mentor/entrepreneur relationship.
they say that knowledge does not take up space.
A) I am more than willing to train myself to provide all the possible value of each entrepreneur and build a relationship of reliability, trust and understanding, orienting myself in the most complete way we can, providing the tools we know to promote market research prior to its constitution to seek its viability and its ideas of how it will be focused, always listening and giving advice, not orders.
B) To learn any entrepreneur with an idea to know how to develop it in the most correct and complete way by studying its CANVAS, Marketing Plan, Cash Flow Plan .... In short, all the essential resources needed by any entrepreneur who wants to set up his or her business... We will give our best in advising these entrepreneurs.
Hello to all,
Total willingness and eagerness to train myself to bring the maximum value to entrepreneurs.
On the other hand, my main expectations are the opportunity to be able to develop my concerns to be able to have a positive impact on people who want to undertake and improve, to nourish myself from the whole ecosystem and in this way learn and/or improve to help people to get the best out of themselves.
It is key to get to know ourselves and be in full personal capacity, being the leaders of our own destiny in order to be able to help others!
I find the whole mentoring process very interesting, which I could define in one sentence "contributing to the success of the entrepreneur by helping them in their efforts". I feel willing and able to help them in this mission ... for which I first have to acquire the skills and tools that allow me to help them, and thus be able to pass on my experience and knowledge.
Thank you very much
It is so interesting to read this information and feel identified.
The mentoring path is definitely a transformation that I want to live.
I found the information reviewed in this first Tips very clear, it is the necessary framework to start with this learning path, to be accredited as a Mentor Days Coach.
Thank you very much!
Angel
I am willing to train myself to bring more value to entrepreneurs, yes I am willing to train myself, to be able to bring value, experience and knowledge.
My expectations are to be part of the mentoring team, acquiring tips, practices and tools for my professional growth.