This is part of a series. You can navigate to other posts in the series from the list called The Art of Mentoring.
Natural Mentoring is one of the Three Mentoring Models described in The Art of Mentoring. As described in that article, Natural Mentoring understands the protégé as the leader of the relationship, and the passionate pursuit of his or her Dreams as the substantive focus of the mentoring activity.
Natural Mentoring is described as “self-activated" and "self-managed.” What that means is that the protégé decides how much or how little it is appropriate to let his or her passion and others determine the mentoring activities he or she participates in. It also means that the protégé gets to choose where, what and how mentoring resources are selected and applied to his or her mentoring activities and relationships.
The intensely personal nature of Natural Mentoring decisions means that it is difficult, if not impossible, to make recommendations about the extent to which a protégé should design, organize and activate their Natural Mentoring activities. However, the UIF does provide some suggestions a protégé may want to consider when it becomes necessary for him or her to make appropriate decisions regarding the design, implementation and activation of Natural Mentoring. Our suggestions for consideration of things the Protégé might initiate are:
| Suggestion | Description |
| My Declaration of Independence | This is a declaration the participant acknowledges to “declare a desire for individual independence”. This includes a recognition of the existence and make up of his or her unique make-up, a recognition of his or her personal liberty and the ability to embrace passion in the pursuit of his or her Dreams and self-determined individual happiness. |
| My Memorandum of Understanding | A self-actuated Memorandum of Understanding initiated to be a living document. Intended as a place to record and reflect a personal definition of my success, the opportunities that may and can exist to pursue it and how all this can change over time. | My Needs | What is that I understand and/ or believe I absolutely need, and why? The concept of a individuals Needs has to do mostly with the things one decides are required for their daily existence and longer term survival in the environment they must or choose to live in. | | Dreams | what are my Dreams of what I want to do and where I want to be? The concept of a individuals Dreams most often encompasses a broad range of one’s unstructured thought processes about their desired future. It most frequently emphasizes cloudy thoughts of a unclear yet desired destination. Also, Dreams occur without a real understanding of the complexity of the journey necessary to get there. One’s Dreams may also encompass the concepts of one’s Visions, Desires and Ideas.
Visions – what are my visions of myself in the future?
Desires – what are the things or places I desire to have or be?
Ideas – what are the general and specific thought processes of what and how the future is about? | | Objectives | What direction and defined interim objectives can I identify and attempt to achieve during my life journey in pursuit of my Dreams? On the life journey in the pursuit of one’s Dreams, an individual naturally identifies interim objectives they want to achieve and wish to accomplish. The identification of interim objectives and the results of being able, or not being able to accomplish them is part of every individual’s natural system of Risk Management and Dream Clarification and Focus. Achieving or not achieving a defined interim objective in pursuit of ones Dreams is similar to arriving at a journey’s rest stop. As part of both Risk management and Dream Clarification, this enables an individual to evaluate where their Dreams have taking them, to intelligently clarify their Dreams, and to have a better idea of both the next defined objective and the condition of the road ahead. | | Goals | Where along the way can I feel comfortable in turning my dreams and defined objectives into a clearly defined Goal? An individual turns their dreams and defined objectives into more clearly defined goals as part of the process of Dream Clarification and Risk Management. Risk Management is an important part of Dream Clarification. It involves considering the results of accomplishing and not accomplishing one's defined objectives which serves to focus ones Dreams into an area of intelligently decided goals where, if achieved, one can consider themselves individually successful. | | My Personal Obligations | What are the things I identify and decide I currently need to continue to be responsible for while on my journey? Personal Obligations include responsibilities and commitments that have an impact on one’s decision process on their life journey in pursuit of their Dreams | | My To Dos | To Dos are a set of criteria one establishes as behavioral guide (be honest in everything I do) and a guide to daily living (eat healthy food. | | My Not To Dos | Not To Dos are a set of criteria one establishes as a behavioral guide (do not take advantage of another person) and a guide to daily living (do not drink and drive) | | My Core Strengths | What are my strengths that will ultimately help me achieve success? | | My Value System | What is important to me? | | My Risk Temperament | When is a decision “one step too far”? | | My Passion | An important statement of what makes me passionate (what will make me overcome the eventual obstacles on my journey)? | |
| My Journey | What are the Mentoring Resources I need and what do I need to initiate to start my Journey in pursuit of my Dreams? |
It is up to each participant to decide what to include, when it should be included and how it should be managed.