Coaching and Mentoring Programme

Programme

Coaching and Mentoring Programme

Coaching and mentoring was always understood by HELM as a by-product of the face-to-face networks that have always been its preferred way of interacting. An established dean would bump into a newly appointed one and a conversation would lead to an offer of informal monthly conversations and out of this a friendship and mentoring would evolve. However, Covid has rendered that increasingly more difficult and yet it is a crucial part of the overall HELM process.

Its central place in the building of a more effective higher education leadership, an ENGAGE session was entirely dedicated to coaching. The resources can be found here.

Over the coming years HELM will be working towards formalising this process based on basic grounding principles:

The mentor and mentee would commit to the process and decide on specific areas that would be the focus of their work.
Meetings would be regular and time limited.
Support during intervals (via email or WhatsApp) would be encouraged.
Both parties would focus on being open-minded and curious.

During the first Women in Leadership (WiL) programme, coaching and mentoring quickly became an important pillar of the programme and has proved extremely productive. Driven by Brightness Mangolothi, the director of HERS-South Africa, she oversaw the process and has produced a short summary of her findings on its efficacy.

WiL Coaching Programme Report

The Impact of
our Programmes

“It was a great opportunity to understand and share ideas from peers after a great presentation by the facilitators”
– Head of Department, UWC 2018

“I really appreciated the time spent going over the difference between therapy, mentoring coaching etc. This was a very helpful framing”.

Dean, Univen 2022