The concept of phases should be primarily interpreted as the continual personal and professional development of mentees as they move through the extended timeframe of mentor-mentee dialogues and activities.
In applying the idea of phases to the mentoring context, the central assumption is that as their relationship matures, the potential for the mentor to engage the mentee in more complex mutual interaction will increase because the mentee has also personally responded constructively to the positive potential within the framework of the ongoing relationship.
New mentors should be aware that in attempting to function as practitioners of the complete mentor role, it is the mentees’ own readiness to participate at every stage that also must remain the central reference point to guide proper mentoring behavior.
The outline that follows should be utilized as a simplified reference to track the probable momentum over time of a representative mentormentee learning experience. Moreover, the concept of phases should be considered as particularly applicable to the one-year model of planned mentoring interaction that is typical of many sponsored programs.