The VI generation of participants of “Creative Mentorship”, talented young professionals in the field of culture throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia has just started its journey! Our first regional cycle started in November 2021 and will last one year.
Here is a short mentoring guide, which aims to answer some of the practical questions for all those who for the first time formally engage in a mentoring relationship and provides guidance for the improvement and development for those already mentoring.
Our base of knowledge will inspire and support your personal development by providing insight into mentoring as a way to deal with everyday life, change and challenges.
Our mission is to spread mentoring as a tool for personal and professional development of individuals, but also to strengthen the capacities of organizations, institutions and companies and weider social development.
Over the years, we have gained relevant experience and knowledge, feel free to contact us if you are developing an internal mentoring scheme or you are looking for the right way to support and encourage your associates.
“Creative Mentorship” association affirms mentoring, empowers the culture sector and provides support to prospective professionals interested in developing, networking and sharing knowledge and experience.
We want to build, gather and support a community of motivated and socially responsible individuals that will contribute to the development of a society based on creativity, culture, knowledge and mutual cooperation.
“Since the first hour of the program, I knew that the relationship with Tamara will be reversible. With her, I was also in a position to learn! Besides discovering new, to me lesser-known matrices of the organization in the communications team where Tamara works, together we detected new possibilities and completed them by outlining the resolutions. Additionally, my work with the mentee helped me “sort” differently the experience and knowledge I already have. Thanks to the whole process and tools we used during the program, I became a “better version of myself”.”
“This role was challenging for me in terms of time, dedication, and focus on mentee’s needs. At first, I had an impression that we will resolve all her questions within the space of a few conversations where my knowledge and experience would be of use. But, as our relationship progressed, she helped me develop as a mentor - by sharing her impressions on it, commenting, and giving me insight into what the concrete suggestions and advice meant to her; she led me and I tried to adapt myself and challenge her (in the most positive sense).”
"I understand much better now what it means to be an active mentor following a system and having accountability for progress, as opposed to being a passive mentor. They are two different things, and I appreciate having gained this through the “Creative Mentorship”."
"It gave me a very in-depth understanding of the benefits of mentorship in practical, theoretical, and personal ways. While I think that everyone has an understanding of what a mentorship could look like, actually forming one in a formal sense is different - it is challenging, it requires vulnerability, it requires opening up and being comfortable sharing. Seeing this in practice was a huge contribution to me personally and something I see a lot of value in."
“I am extremely happy with the relationship with my mentor, with what we achieved, topics that we managed to go over, and with the fact that for the first time I had a person to support me and be a sort of my “personal consultant” both in a professional context and my personal relation towards work.”
“By making small steps, creating smaller projects, ideas, and through personal improvement, I managed to promote myself and my library, in local circles as well as in broader professional ones. This is especially visible in professional organizations where I gained more important roles in management, and in my team, where my and my library’s work are visible and genuinely appreciated.”
“I opened up for this kind of experience that mentorship process brings: I have met numerous impressive people, with whom I could easily collaborate or become friends in the future, and I know who to ask for advice if I find myself in a challenging situation.”
“The knowledge that my mentor had gained through developing Mikser organization and shared with me, helped me understand the process of it. I learned that every growth requires not only strategic planning, but the time for organic growth, for reviving an idea, logical extension, networking, and connecting. I learned how important it is just to start.”
I was encouraged by the eagerness of successful expert to unselfishly share knowledge and advices, and became motivated to continue with this practice in relations with my younger colleagues. I learned that mentorship is about patience, dedication, and motivation to help others. I learned that people are not difficult, but different. That leadership is not only about talent and excellence in own profession, but also about active listening, guidance, understanding and compassion. These useful techniques can help me with my everyday life and work. I learned to be better in learning every day.
Should only a small part of what we discussed – get realized, that would be a big step forward. It is unbelievable how good our match is, and the ideas we came up with together are revolutionary.
I was matched with my mentor based on my interests and experience – and this was a perfect match! It has been very useful for me to find out that someone successful has gone through same periods, problems and dilemmas as I am going through right now. My mentor invited me to various events and connected me to relevant professionals and that has been really precious for me.
I am very satisfied with my mentor. If I was thinking for months about the choice of my mentor, he would never come up with his name... however, choosing him seems such a logical move that I wonder whether it is really possible that it has never crossed my mind! Even on our first meeting I noticed that he has so much experience that he could tell only three sentences, and I would keep thinking on them all the time, for a month. I am not used to such outcomes: my big dilemmas might not be solved, but I got huge input in just one sentence.
Awesome! Inspiring! Beneficial on so many levels. Creative Mentorship is a great opportunity to connect and create a network with people who share your interests and values, as well as benchmark with them while having insights into their experience. Opportunity to learn and teach in both formal and informal environments.
