Reverse mentoring turns traditional mentoring on its head. The reverse mentor is a more junior colleague who would mentor a more senior colleague. For example, a Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic (BAME) or disabled colleague at a lower grade would mentor a colleague who is an Executive Director from a different ethnic group, doesn’t have a disability.
They would accompany that Director to meetings, observe behaviors, and provide constructive feedback regarding issues and points that are observed from that junior member of staff’s personal experiences.
These may be born out of their lived experiences as a BAME or disabled employee.
They will provide an insight into the difficulties and barriers they may have faced, with opportunities to explore how the more senior colleague could learn from and adapt their future leadership approach to ensure they are more inclusive and appreciative of the diversity of their workforce.
LLR welcomes staff interested in becoming involved in this initiative and is looking for a good cross-section of staff willing to be either reverse mentors or mentees. Reverse mentors would ordinarily be junior members of staff; specifically more junior than the person being mentored.
The mentee could be any member of staff wishing to be reverse mentored. As long as the mentee is more senior to the person being mentored, anyone is welcome to apply.
A reverse mentor must be eager to support colleagues from across the LLR system. You must be able to help the reverse mentee discover their strengths and weaknesses in order to focus them on their own personal development specifically linked to inclusion.
As a mentee, you must be committed to the principles of reverse mentoring. Be willing to listen and understand the role of the reverse mentor.
The LLR system will advertise when they are promoting a new Reverse mentoring programme and interested parties will be invited to apply. You will need to meet the person specification and be prepared to receive training in the role.