Mentoring Portfolio

Henry Sanchez

LDRS 516

Professor: Lemaster

May 5, 2016
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In creating my mentoring portfolio, I can reflect upon a past experience when I mentored a

student employee at work who I supervised a year ago. It started off as a work related

relationship seeing I was the supervisor over my employee Robert at the time. At this time of my

leadership I was the Event Coordinator here at Azusa Pacific University, over the years I have

had many opportunities to connect with students in a working environment and impart work

skills, life lessons, and at spiritual principles as well. As I share my mentoring experience and

what I have learned in mentoring and connecting with my student worker Robert.

On Robert’s first day in 2015, he was quiet and a man of few words but I learned quickly he

had a humble spirit, teachable, and was willing to accomplish his work task. In his first month, I

definitely saw potential in Robert’s life as an employee and leadership traits that wanted to help

develop as we began to build a relationship in the workplace. According to Eliades (2017)

explains, “Mentoring activities are the specific actions of the mentor and workplace that facilitate

the protégé’s professional growth” (p.41). I wanted to see Robert grow in the event services

department because with experience and developing skills it would benefit him in the future. So

in doing my part, I made sure the resources were available to complete his task, efficient training

provided, and delegation of event operation responsibilities were available to him for

opportunities to develop working skills and all areas of the event operations.
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As months went by, I worked closely with Robert and began to conduct extensive training in

event services which included; event set up operations, safety requirements, inventory,

collaborating with other departments and customer service training. In the process, of training

there was times when correction was needed, but Robert was responsible for his action and

learned from his minor mistakes of the job processes. It’s was during these times, that I had

great opportunities to teach life lessons of encouragement, building character, integrity, work

ethic, and the ability to impart into others what you been taught. At the same time, I was seeing

growth and his willingness to lead and teach others the event operation procedures were I was

able delegate to him leadership responsibilities in event operation.

Also during this time, it would be a time of spiritual growth as we became transparent in our

conversations when we would meet for lunch and talk. At this point, Robert was open to share

about his life and the challenges he faced in his life. It would a be time where I was able to

encourage him in the faith and pray for him. For example, I recall a time when his father was

extremely ill and I received a phone call one night as he asked for prayer regarding his father.

The bible says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of

compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can

comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (1Corinthians
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1:3-4, New International Version). As a follower of Christ, it was a God given opportunity for

me to exercise my faith and show the love of God and comfort Robert during this challenging

time in his life.

In 2016, Robert received a promotion as a student lead position by the department leadership

because of growth as an employee, customer relations, and ability to be responsible in leading

event teams effectively. In this same year, I myself would take on a new job position which

opened on the other campus, which would open up my Event coordinator position. Shortly after

my job transition, Robert would apply for the position and received a new staff position a event

coordinator over event services. Honestly, I was truly excited for Robert and the new leadership

position he was stepping into and the opportunity God gave me to be a mentor to Robert and be

an encouragement to him in the faith.

What I learned through this mentoring experience, is being sensitive in seeing the

potential in others and making an investment in one’s life to see them reach their full potential as

a leader. Regarding Mentoring Gassman & Gleason (2011) explains, “It is a “dynamic,

reciprocal relationship in a work environment between an advanced career incumbent [mentor]

and a beginner [protégé] aimed at promoting the career development of both.” (p.58). People

want mentors to value and invest in them in leadership, in our class we talked about 21st century
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leaders, who are leaders who want to lead now, and the blessed opportunity we have to find

opportunities for them to grow and take on leadership. I learned an employee like Robert, desired

to lead but needed a mentor to value and invest in him.

Furthermore, what I have learned is mentoring brings value to the organization. According

to Zachary (2005) states, “The relationship skills learned through mentoring strengthen

relationships throughout the organization as these relationships deepen, people feel more

connected with the organization” (p. 4). In my mentoring experience with Robert, as we

established a working relationship and friendship trust and confidence was being established and

we were learning from one another and this made the mentoring process much more effective in

developing leadership potential in Robert’s life and witnessing him make connection with the

APU community as a leader. And knowing the culture of my organization and my desire to

make an investment in Robert that would bring glory and advance God’s kingdom.

For me as leader, the most important lesson in my mentoring process is the opportunity to

share my story and life experiences which connects with my true north as an authentic leader. In

class as we watched a Charles Stanley video, As a mentor I a blessed opportunity to share my

negative or positive experiences in life which can either benefit my mentee in leadership to

develop or help them avoid pitfalls in life. According to George, “Many authentic leaders have
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had a mentor has changed their lives by helping them develop the skills to become a better

leaders and confidence to lead authentically” (p.121). As I recall my personal and professional

growth who have pour out into my life by sharing their experience and story which impacted me

to grow professionally, but also spiritually as a man of God.

I also have learned that the mentoring relationship, has built trust and confidence in one

another. Even to this present time, we remain connected in our friendship as we continue once a

month to talk life and learn from one another. With technology, work processes, education

always changing we support one another in our profession and leadership development. For

example, Robert had now decided to pursue his masters and I’ve been encouraging and walking

him through the process, and since currently I’m working on my masters as well and we able to

gleam off one another, encourage, and grow as leaders.

In conclusion, in stepping into this mentoring process for me personally it was never

planned, but happened on a natural setting on a daily basis where me and Robert connected. I

recognized his value and potential in life to grow as a leader and wanted to invest and impart in

his life to grow in his leadership development. I am so grateful to God for this opportunity to

mentor Robert because what began as leadership development process has become a strong
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friendship of encouragement, learning, and honoring God in our growth as leaders and life

experiences.
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References

Eliades, A. B. (2017). Mentoring Practice and Mentoring Benefit 6: Equipping for Leadership

and Leadership Readiness -- An Overview and Application To Practice Using Mentoring

Activities. Pediatric Nursing,

Gassman, J., & Gleason, M. C. (2011). The importance of mentoring relationships among youth

workers. New Directions For Youth Development,

George, B., & Sims, P. (2007). True north: Discover your authentic leadership. San Francisco,

Calif: Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons.

Zachary (2005). Creating A Mentoring Culture. San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass