Compare and Contrast 1,000 Word Paper, Leadership Development

1

COACHING EDUCATION

Tools for a Formal Mentoring Program: A Guide Every Mentee in

Coaching Can Use Vincent Lyons and Donna Pastore

Abstract Mentoring is crucial for the development of competent coaches

(Jones, Harris, & Miles, 2009), and athletic departments and sport organizations are encouraged to use this process that links an in- experienced coach with a veteran mentor coach (Megginson & Clutterbuck, 1995). Mentored coaches benefit from gaining insight and wisdom into their profession and from building important rela- tionships with significant others in the department or organization (Pastore, 2003). In this paper, we provide an overview of mentoring and give practical tools for implementing or strengthening a formal mentoring program. As such, relative worksheets for use by mentee and mentor coaches have been included in the appendices of this paper.

Much has been written about the mentoring process that occurs in educational settings (Burden, Harrison, & Hodge, 2005; Dodds, 2005; Jones, Harris, & Miles, 2009; Sambunjak, Straus, & Marusic, 2010), including the sport and athletic context (Cardone, 2010; Pastore, 2003; Weaver & Chelladurai, 2002). In most of these pub- lished articles, the focus has been on defining what mentoring is and what roles are common for the people involved and on articulating attributes, characteristics, and expectations of the mentor teacher

Vincent Lyons, Kinesiology and Sports Studies, Eastern Illinois University. Donna Pastore is professor, Physical Activity and Educational Services, The Ohio State University. Vincent Lyons is now an MBA student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Please send author correspondence to [email protected]

The Physical Educator Vol. 73 • pp. 1–14 • 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.18666/TPE-2016-V73-I1-5931

2 Mentoring Guide for Coaches

or coach (Dawson, 2014; D’Abate, 2009; Kram, 1983, 1988; Kram & Isabella, 1985; Ragins, 1997). The purpose of this paper is to provide further insight into the perspective of the mentee in coaching, in- cluding a description of assessing his or her basic competencies and future goals. Finally, we provide useful templates that can be used as how-to guides for those newly or actively engaged in the process of formal mentoring in their current athletic coaching location and situation.

Within the realm of sports coaching, the practice of mentoring has been commonly used to enhance mentee coaches’ expertise and knowledge base (Bloom, Durand-Bush, Schinke, & Salmela, 1998) as part of the integral process of “developing high-quality practitioners” (Jones et al., 2009, p. 268). This mentoring of coaches is only possible because of the experience and perspicacity of expert coaches who were mentored themselves in areas ranging from tactical and physi- cal skills to coaching philosophies and values that govern the men- tee coach’s relationship with other people (Bloom et al., 1998; Jones et al., 2009). In the most rudimentary sense, then, mentee coaches receive on-the-job training from mentor coaches who provide regu- lar conversational interactions as well as modeled actions indicating how various responsibilities and tasks ought to be handled.

At least one group of scholars has noted that beginning athlet- ic coaches, who are often inexperienced teachers in an unfamiliar school, regularly “encounter challenges and demands,” especially as they pertain to navigating the many new relationships with stu- dents, parents, and school administrators (Rikard & Banville, 2010). The novice coaches who are also academic teachers have previously had at a minimum a mentor teacher who helped them develop their organizational and technical skills in a relatively controlled student teaching classroom setting. However, the first-time coach who is not a classroom teacher may never have had a coaching mentor before, let alone a controlled context in which to practice skill development germane to the art and science of coaching. Therefore, it is essential that new coaches have the opportunity to be formally mentored by experienced coaches who have walked in the shoes of the mentees early in their own careers.

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Theoretical Framework The process of mentoring is grounded in Bandura’s (1977) social

learning theory, which argues that individuals learn through observ- ing the actions and behaviors of influential role models. Social learn- ing theory can also be a powerful tool for shaping desired behavior through positive or negative reinforcement that is given to mentees from people who are more experienced. To this end, Megginson and Clutterbuck (1995) noted that mentoring is usually understood as an intraorganizational social relationship in which a more experienced person serves as a role model and friend to another less experienced person. The mentee is a person who can learn from a knowledgeable mentor in a relationship that requires “trust, respect and a genuine interest in each other’s lives” (MacLennan, 1995, p. 41), and a mentor helps the mentee avoid mistakes and gives the protégé the opportu- nity to meet and forge relationships with those in more powerful or influential positions (Pastore, 2003).

Appendix A illustrates the various ways in which the mentor- ing can occur formally or informally in almost any athletic depart- ment or sporting context. Regardless, though, of whether coaches are mentored in a formal or informal setting or program, the pro- cess can potentially lead to the procurement of personal fulfill- ment and professional evolution for both parties involved. In this mutually beneficial bidirectional relationship, scholars have noted that mentees have someone to invest in their total growth as pro- fessionals (Jones et al., 2009) and that mentors are rewarded with personal satisfaction that comes with helping another person in the vocation (Pastore, 2003). In support of this claim, in sport survey research, Weaver and Chelladurai (2002) indicated that male and fe- male mentored athletic administrators are “more satisfied with their work than their non-mentored counterparts” (p. 96). It stands to reason, then, that mentored coaches at all levels of athletics may be more satisfied with their work, too, which can only help to influence positively the overall coaching experience and growth of the persons taking part in such an important relationship. In turn, the positive coaching experiences of mentored coaches will strengthen the over- all success of the entire athletic department of the school. Hence, not only is mentoring potentially beneficial for the mentor and mentee directly involved in this social learning process, but the entire school

4 Mentoring Guide for Coaches

and its sport organization may also be strengthened and improved (Flannery & Swank, 1999).

Pilot Program Once a person is hired as an athletic coach, he or she is suddenly

confronted with various aspects of the job that must be learned to perform the duties of the specific appointment well. According to Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory and his subsequent theory of self-efficacy, people often learn how to act in certain social situa- tions through observing the actions and role modeling of others. He also noted that these same people are capable of developing a sense of their own abilities to control courses of action that lead to the successful attainment of goal and performance outcomes (Bandura, 1977). With this perspective in mind, it is certainly possible to assert that many novice coaches will quickly adapt to their new position and acquire essential job functional knowledge by witnessing the be- havior of and asking questions to the other coaches in their school and sport-specific school context. The formal mentoring program presented in this paper is intended to assure the mentee coach that there will be at least one primary mentor coach who can be counted on as a role model for demonstrating appropriate coaching behav- iors and for answering inquiries (Flannery & Swank, 1999).

To help guide the process of learning and the advancement of self-efficacy for the new coach, three forms appear in appendices that can be used to help govern the overall process of formal sport coach mentoring in any school setting. The “Mentee Coach Skill Assessment Sheet ” (see Appendix B) is intended to be an initial self- assessment for the mentee coach that ought to be filled out prior to performing any job-related duties. This form is guided by the foun- dational work of Zachary (2000) and MacLennan (1995), who noted that an initial assessment can be useful in helping mentees state spe- cific goals and objectives that they would like to accomplish with the assistance of their mentor. The use of the skill assessment sheet here is not intended to report or establish a level of self-efficacy for the mentee coach, but rather it is geared toward ultimately helping the coach determine the best possible ways to use successfully the skills that the mentee already possesses (Bandura, 1986) through an enumeration of strengths and weaknesses in a wide range of skill ar-

Lyons and Pastore 5

eas associated with coaching job functions. Mentor coaches should be prepared to share the results of this preliminary assessment with their assigned mentor coach at one of their first scheduled mentor- ing meetings.

The “Mentee Coach Open Observation Sheet” (see Appendix C) should be used at least two to three times by the mentor coach dur- ing the sport season for which the mentee is an inexperienced coach (2 years of coaching or less for that specific sport). The mentor coach needs to make every effort to share observations and reflections with the mentee coach in a timely fashion, during which the two coaches can gather without distraction for at least 15–30 min to discuss and ask questions regarding the particulars of the recorded observation. This observation form and the conversation that follows are not in- tended to be an evaluation tool of the mentor’s performance of par- ticular skills, but they are intended to serve as a tool for reflection based on the observation of a more experienced coach in the same sport. Because coaches often serve a role in influencing someone’s interpretation of the sport experience (Duda & Balaguer, 1979), it can be assumed that a mentor coach can help guide the learning of a mentee coach as each person shares and responds to the written notes from the observed coaching experience.

The “Mentee Coach Summative Evaluation Tool Sheet” (see Appendix D) is grounded in the work of Zachary (2005), who noted that the process of mentoring should primarily be oriented toward the learning process and stated improvement needs of the mentee. This mentoring form was also constructed in part to serve as a re- flection tool for those involved in the mentee coach’s work progress. To this end, Rhodes, Stokes, and Hampton (2004) wrote that open reflection is an essential component to furthering professional de- velopment. As such, this form is recommended to be used at the completion of the sport season specific to the mentee coach (i.e., if the mentee is a ninth grade basketball coach and his or her season ends a month before the mentor varsity coach’s season ends, both coaches should make every effort to meet with the athletic director in a timely fashion to meet and fill out this form together). A form that is filled out too long after the season or by only two members of the recommended triad of professionals is likely to seem stale or unhelpful, especially if the mentee coach has moved on to coaching

6 Mentoring Guide for Coaches

another sport. Thoughts, ideas, and reactions that are soon after the season has ended give the coaches and athletic director the oppor- tunity to recall more easily instances and examples of situations that were or were not appropriately or positively handled during the sea- son, which allows for healthy discussion on the mentee coach’s skills in various stages of development.

SWOT Analysis of Pilot Program The useful tools set forth in this article for helping to establish

a mentoring program for coaches have shown promise in serving as useful guides for schools and coaches who want to introduce or formalize their athletic coaching mentor–mentee program. During the 2013–2014 school year, this program received administrator ap- proval for use by a Midwestern K–12 school. Therefore, following a consultation with the authors of this work, an introductory meeting was held at this school in the summer of 2013 between the school’s athletic director and its coaches. At this meeting, coaches received an outline to the mentoring program and those who wanted to par- ticipate immediately were guided through the early stages of engage- ment with the materials presented in the appendices of this paper. It was noted that most coaches preferred to select their mentor coach to work with as opposed to having one assigned to them, and sev- eral more veteran coaches offered to try and mentor more than one inexperienced coach. In the end, though, all mentees had a mentor coach (even if this was an administrator who also coached), and at a minimum, each less experienced coach had the chance to articulate initial areas of strength and weakness. Furthermore, mentee coaches expressed well-defined goals for their increase in coaching aptitude, including their desire to receive more frequent feedback from their athletic director or other school administrators.

The most positive reported benefit of the mentoring program for this school appears to be the establishment of a postseason meeting between coaches and school administrators. In this pilot case, men- tee coaches noted that they were thankful they now had a chance to sit down and talk with a school administrator about their sport sea- son and overall coaching growth and effectiveness. We believe that this type of big-picture, positive consequence is the result of a more natural line of communication between coaches and administrators that results from de-emphasizing a vertical hierarchical structure

Lyons and Pastore 7

that often exists among school personnel. Further use of these men- toring tools at other schools and in other athletic settings is needed to confirm whether this is most often the case.

The pilot testing of this program was not without its challenges either. For example, the school experienced coaching resignations and dismissals during and immediately after the fall and winter sport seasons, which led to difficulties following through on mentoring program commitments for those directly involved. This unanticipat- ed challenge may have been amplified further at this school because of its relatively small size and lack of paid assistant coaches for use by a Midwestern 7–12 school. Thus, it is recommended that schools or community athletic organizations wishing to adopt a mentoring program similar to this consider their overall coaching stability be- fore beginning a formal mentoring process.

References Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice Hall. Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A

social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bloom, G. A., Durand-Bush, N., Schinke, R. J., & Salmela, J. H.

(1998). The importance of mentoring in the development of coaches and athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 29, 267–281.

Burden, J. W., Harrison, J., & Hodge, S. R. (2005). Perceptions of African American faculty in kinesiology-based programs at predominantly White American institutions of higher education. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76, 224–237. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2005.10599283

Cardone, D. (2010, October/November). Center of attention. Athletic Management, 2010, 47–51.

D’Abate, C. P. (2009). Defining mentoring in the first-year experience: One institution’s approach to clarifying the meaning of mentoring first-year students. Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 21(1), 65–91.

Dawson, P. (2014). Beyond a definition: Toward a framework for designing and specifying mentoring models. Educational Researcher, 43, 137–145. http://dx.doi. org/10.3102/0013189X14528751

8 Mentoring Guide for Coaches

Dodds, P. (2005). Chapter 4: PETE women’s experiences of being mentored into postsecondary faculty positions. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 24, 344–367.

Duda, J. L., & Balaguer, I. (1979). Coach-created motivational climate. In S. Jowett & D. Lavallee (Eds.), Social psychology in sport (pp. 265–277). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Flannery, T., & Swank, M. (1999). Personnel management for sport directors. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Jones, R., Harris, R., & Miles, A. (2009). Mentoring in sports coaching: A review of the literature. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 14, 267–284. http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/17408980801976569

Kram, K. E. (1983). Phases of the mentor relationship. Academy of Management Journal, 26, 608–625. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/255910

Kram, K. E. (1988). Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Kram, K. E., & Isabella, L. A. (1985). Mentoring alternatives: The role of peer relationships in career development. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 110–132. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/256064

MacLennan, N. (1995). Coaching and mentoring. Brookfield, VT: Gower Publishing.

Megginson, D., & Clutterbuck, D. (1995). Mentoring in action: A practical guide for managers. London, England: Kogan Page.

Pastore, D. (2003). A different lens to view mentoring in sport management. Journal of Sport Management, 17(1), 1–12.

Ragins, B. R. (1997). Diversified mentoring relationships in organizations: A power perspective. Academy of Management Review, 22, 482–521.

Rhodes, C., Stokes, M., & Hampton, G. (2004). A practical guide to mentoring, coaching, and peer-networking: Teacher professional development in schools and colleges. New York, NY: RoutledgeFalmer.

Rikard, G., & Banville, D. (2010). Effective mentoring: Critical to the professional development of first year physical educators. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 29, 245–261.

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Sambunjak, D., Straus, S. E., & Marusic, A. (2010). A systematic review of qualitative research on the meaning and characteristics of mentoring in academic medicine. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(1), 72–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009- 1165-8

Schweitzer, C. A. (1993). Mentoring future professionals. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 64, 50–52. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.1993.10606785

Weaver, M., & Chelladurai, P. (2002). Mentoring in intercollegiate athletic administration. Journal of Sport Management, 16, 96– 116.

Zachary, L. (2000). The mentor’s guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.

Zachary, L. (2005). Creating a mentoring culture: The organization’s guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Appendix A

Comparison of Features for Formal & Informal Mentoring Approaches

Key features Informal Formal Common

Descriptors Casual, serendipitous,

spontaneous, natural, idiosyncratic

Organized, structured, facilitated, strategic, planned

Finding a Mentoring Partner

No eligibility requirements

Self-initiated Voluntary Chemistry and

accessibility valued Individual asks for

or offers advice or guidance

Eligibility requirements established

Facilitated selection process

Voluntary Learning fit and

compatibility Person who makes first

contact is stipulated Accountability Lack of expectation

No formal agreement Commitment not

required Accountability harder to

maintain Self-managed

Roles and responsibilities predefined

Structured or negotiated mentoring agreements

Commitment required Mechanism for

accountability built in Program-managed

Relationship Personal Unstructured Evolves naturally over

time Lack of formal

commitment Communication is

sporadic

Partnership Structured Milestones defined

for each phase of relationship

Commitment to each other

Communication is ongoing

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Key features Informal Formal Learning Goals Broad goals

Goals tend to change or evolve over time

Just-in-time goals

Broad, generalized goals become more specific and focused

Goals are evaluated regularly

Development goals Training No training required May be training sessions

for mentors or mentees individually as groups or combined sessions

Duration No expectation as to relationship time frame

Relationship organized around immediacy of need

Relationships can go on indefinitely or be purely situational

Relationship finite; has a beginning and an ending point

Relationship organized around time frame or completion of learning goals

Relationships renegotiated

Evaluation No formal mechanism Goal achievement ad hoc No required reporting to

a third party

Formal mechanism Relationship progress

toward goal achievement is measured regularly

Required reporting on a programmatic basis

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Appendix B

Mentee Coach Skill Assessment Sheet

Mentee Name: Sport(s) Coached: Years of Experience: Mentor Name:

Instructions: Review each skill and indicate how comfortable you are in using it by checking one of the three boxes: V = very com- fortable, M = moderately comfortable, U = uncomfortable. Then identify an example that illustrates a concrete situation in which you were either comfortable or uncomfortable using that skill. Check each skill that you feel you must improve to develop a level of com- fort. Once you have completed the skill inventory, rank your overall comfort level with all eight skills on a scale of 1 to 5.

Skill V M U Examples Needs work 1. Asking for feed-

back 2. Brainstorming 3. Communicating 4. Fostering account-

ability 5. Managing conflict 6. Problem identifi-

cation 7. Problem solving 8. Building positive

relationships

Overall rating: 1 2 3 4 5 Not very comfortable to very comfortable

Source: Adapted from The Mentor’s Guide, by L. Zachary, 2000, San Fran- cisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Appendix C

Mentee Coach Open Observation Sheet

Mentee Name: Date & Time: Mentor Name: Sport:

Context of Coaching Observation (location, age and skill level, prac- tice or game, before/during/after practice or game, etc.):

Primary Areas of Focus for Coaching Observation:

Comments:

Important Issues to Pay Attention to:

Observable Aspects of Coaching Performance:

Practice/Game Planning and Preparation ___ Teaching Techniques ___ Coaching Knowledge and Application ___ Management and Control ___

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Appendix D

Mentee Coach Summative Evaluation Tool Sheet

Mentee Name: Sport: Mentor Name:

1 = Effective 2 = Needs improvement 3 = Unsatisfactory 4 = Unable to observe

Skill 1 2 3 4 Commitment to the team Communication with players and

parents Knowledge of sport Teaching ability Ability to motivate players Energy and passion for coaching

players Managerial ability Ability to establish rapport with

other coaches Accepts responsibility for actions

Overall evaluation of mentee coach:

Other comments:

Mentee coach’s signature: _______________ Date: _________ Mentor coach’s signature: _______________ Date: _________ Athletic director’s signature: _____________ Date: _________

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