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Mentor or Dementor

The original title I had was Mentor or Tormentor. And aha, there’s a journal article entitled Tormentor mentors, and how to survive them from Nature. Alas, it’s pay walled. But I thought dementor would be way more cool. Here’s how dementors have been described –

Dementors were wraithlike creatures that fed on human happiness and generated terrible feelings of despair within any person in close proximity. In the worst case scenario, a Dementor’s Kiss would allow the Dementor to consume a human’s soul, leaving them in a vegetative state.

https://www.wizardingworld.com/fact-file/creatures/dementor

Sounds about right.

What does it mean to be a mentor? Stenfors-Hayes et al explored this question in medical and dental education.

  • A mentor is someone who can answer questions and give advice.
  • A mentor is someone who shares what it means to be a doctor/dentist.
  • A mentor is someone who listens and stimulates reflection.

Here’s how to find out if instead you have a tormentor (or worse, a dementor). Answer the questions below from Joelle Jay of the Forbes Coaches Council:

  • Do you ever find yourself doing work for your “mentor” that you don’t get credit for?
  • Are you sometimes given so much work by your “mentor” that you don’t have time to work on what’s important to you?
  • Does your “mentor” fail to offer the support you need to realize your goals?

So let’s discuss at the #HealthXPH tweet chat on 20 July 2024, 9 pm Manila time. Here are the questions –

T1. What do you expect from a mentor? Share positive mentoring experiences.

T2. Share tips on how to survive a mentor who has become a tormentor/dementor.

T3. Do you see yourself mentoring others? Why or why not?

NOTE: I used the WordPress AI to generate the featured image for this post. Look at the gibberish it included! Looks cool otherwise.

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