We have spent a lot of time looking at the nitty-gritty elements of the relationship between mentors and mentees/supervisors and supervisees; how to handle delicate information and situations, how to treat clients with integrity and dignity, how to navigate conflicting interests…. Many of these issues come back to the parameters of the relationship. A parameter is a fixed limit on

What does it mean to be principled in your practice? This is an essential competency for a mentor/supervisor… which we will be focusing on for the next few weeks. To be principled in practice means that you “adhere to core values and beliefs rooted in sound doctrine.” Every mentor/supervisor needs a code of conduct for their practice. There are likely already some set up for you, beginning with the legal requirements in the area you practise, including the denomination or professional association you are working within…

I am so excited to share this news… My new book, Creating a Vision for Health, is published! I’ve spent the last several years reflecting on well-being and exploring what health (mental, physical, emotional and spiritual) can look like for Christian leaders. My thoughts have finally come together in this book as I explore the five competencies essential to leadership: Vital Spirituality, Thriving Relationships, Emotional Intelligence, Sustainable Life and Reduced Risk, and the behaviours associated with each competency. I have also provided access to useful tools such as Verve Lead’s Well-Being Gauges, Well-Being Q Health Profile and the Mentor Q 360 Assessment.

Occasionally when mentoring or supervising professionally in the Christian community, you will need to have a difficult conversation about theology and beliefs. Even within the Christian community, there are many differences: between denominations—for instance,Catholics and Protestants, Calvinists and Moravians all vary drastically—but there are also subtle differences even within a denomination. For example, some mentees/supervisees may believe in predestination, while others are firm believers in freewill. Every person is influenced by their own experiences and their spiritual education, which leads to many different interpretations of God’s word and will…

Over the last few weeks, we have been exploring how to confront and challenge our mentee or supervisee when it is necessary. We have mostly focused on how we, as a mentor or supervisor, can encourage our clients to open up, to speak frankly and to face difficulties in themselves and the world around them. Today, we are turning towards ourselves and how we handle those conversations…

The role of mentor/supervisor is a reflective practice. Our job is to help our clients learn to see what they are not seeing about themselves and their behaviour and encourage them to become more self-reflective on their path forward. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as holding up a mirror….

Have you ever finished a session with a mentee or supervisee and were left feeling that something was wrong? That something they said was not aligned with what God wants for them? It can be difficult to see behaviours or attitudes in your mentees or supervisees that you recognise as unbiblical and unhealthy for their lives but it also allows for the opportunity for you to provide some insight and, hopefully, help correct their path forward.

When working with mentees and supervisees as a Christian mentor or supervisor, we naturally run into behaviours that don’t align with the Bible’s ethics. This can be an excellent opportunity to bring the Bible into the conversation and explore stories that may parallel your mentee’s current situation. This means that we, as mentors or supervisors, need to understand the message

Challenging and Confronting others is a difficult skill set that all mentors or supervisors need to have. Even our easiest and most pleasant mentees and supervisees will occasionally need to be challenged and pushed to grow. Some of the people we work with will need us to address many tough issues; confrontation may be a regular part of sessions. Either way, being able to acknowledge and embrace difficult issues within this relationship, and to take personal action, is key to successful transformation. This is exactly what we will be looking at over the next few weeks. This is an opportunity to self-reflect: how do you handle challenging your mentees? How do you prefer to confront supervisees? Are difficult conversations something you feel comfortable with? How do you go about correcting unhealthy behaviours?