Mentoring champion

Let us now consider Table 7.1 to obtain a more thorough understanding of the role of the mentoring champion. 

The champion s role is perhaps the most important in the design and implementation process, so mentoring champions should be (Nilles, 1998) ... 

At a fairly high level in the organization - although the mentoring champion does not have to reside in the uppermost management levels, he or she should possess enough clout and experience to get things done. 

Enable you, the mentoring champion, to evaluate the risks to your reputation associated with pressing ahead with the scheme. For instance, an organizational readiness analysis that reveals that your culture is not conducive to a mentoring program will prompt you to stop your efforts and rethink. This may save you from great potential embarrassment ... 

The program was championed by Lars Akeson, the HR Director of the Division, and its global implementation was co-ordinated by Malin Boultwood, Manager of Competence and Culture. Boultwood is still responsible for managing the scheme, which means that she matches mentors and mentees, organizes the training, and carries out evaluations. The scheme is funded partially by the participants departments and partially from the central HR budget. 

I am struck by the lack of progress we are making in how women are perceived or evaluated in their jobs—whether the evaluation is in terms of our research, our effectiveness as department heads, our leadership roles, or our efforts as mentors or champions. We are still searching for how best to be a leader, how best to be a mentor, how best to be a champion, and how to take on these roles. There are so few women in leadership roles that we don t have enough examples of effective leadership among women in the chemical sciences to know who are the appropriate role models. We need more women as leaders, not only as role models, but also as champions and advocates for other women coming up the line. 

The past years have seen the loss of two staunch champions for the both of us — the late Athel LJ. Beckwith FAA, FRS from the Research School of Chemistry, ANU (scientist extraordinaire, mentor and friend) as well as Mrs Joan E. Smith, Research School of Chemistry AMJ (a dedicated and amazing librarian, and a strong supporter of this book and its previous editions. In her eyes, we could do no wrong). The world is a little less bright in their absence. We dedicate this book to their memories. 

There are defined paths of accelerated change to learn from, and many of them are based on mentoring behavior, socialization of champions, and organizational engagement (Caldwell, 1995). A model can help. There are many to choose from. 

Safety was defined to be the responsibility of everyone on the project and safety activities were undertaken within and across all work streams. In addition, a team was nominated to support the safety activities and lead the safety analysis work. Key roles were defined for the Managing Consultant, the Safety Workstream Manager and the Project Safety Manager. A Safety Champion was also appointed to provide safety guidance and mentoring as appropriate. 

Creating a team charter and identifying the key personnel who will champion (mentor) the project ensures that the problem statement is clearly defined, problem/defect definitions are developed and that a written charter and deliverables for the project are established (The Process Improvement Notebook,TQLO Publication No. 97-01, n.d.). Team charters include the business case analysis such as problem and goal statements (injury and/or damage reduction), project scope,bench-marks/milestones, and the roles and responsibilities of the team. One key element in the team charter is a plan for communicating information to leadership team on the status of each stage of the project (Waddick, n.d.). 

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