Leadership Opportunities
Leadership roles exist for instructors with a desire for more responsibility within the instructor community. Mentors and Guardian Angels have a high level of skill and awareness in the classroom and on the range. They support the riding community by supporting the instructor community.
Mentor Training
Once an instructor has reached proficiency in teaching, a great next step to consider is reaching out to serve as a Mentor Instructor. It’s a way to both pay it forward and help to shape the future of our organization in a positive manner.
Mentors play a critical role in the success of Team Oregon, both now and in the years to come. It’s vital for new instructors to have a successful first year. In order to serve our customers we need to have qualified instructors in place. Mentors are the ones who train these new instructors to competency. Mentors also help the new instructors to gain confidence, feel valued and remain engaged in our program. These new instructors are also where our future leadership will come from. The example set by Mentors and the values they instill in others now literally shapes the way Team Oregon will look in the next few years.
As you have experienced, becoming an instructor makes us better riders. In the same way, serving as a Mentor makes us better instructors. Other avenues for personal growth open up, as well. For example, as future leadership opportunities become available, we will be looking to the Mentor Corps to fill these. Serving as a Mentor is a great privilege but, as you can see, it also brings with it an increased level of responsibility.
How Do I Qualify?
An instructor needs to have Active Range Instructor status. A minimum of 12 months’ experience after completion of range internship and classroom apprenticeship is required. A potential Mentor will need to have taught at least 16 range courses.
Not all who reach this milestone, however, are invited to serve as a Mentor. To be selected as a Mentor, an instructor must exhibit a sincere desire to help others to succeed, demonstrate empathy and be a model of consistency with our curricula and policies. These are really things that all instructors should be striving for. They are critical for Mentors, though, to facilitate the success of new instructors.
Now is a great time to start working on developing and honing those skill sets. When the time comes you’ll be ready to answer the call to serve!
For more information on requirements for Mentor Instructors see the Policy and Procedures Manual section 3.1.1.4. Mentor Instructor. To indicate your interest in becoming a mentor, contact Michael Heinen.
Guardian Angel Program
The Guardian Angel Program is comprised of Mentors who’ve stepped up to take on the added responsibility of personally guiding a new instructor through their first year. These Mentors provide help in such things as preparing for teaching assignments, figuring out operational procedures and filling in the knowledge gaps as needed. Most critically, the Guardian Angels serve as navigational beacons to the new instructors. As these new team members encounter different challenges in the field their Guardian Angels help them sort it all out and keep making positive progress.
This program has made a significant contribution to the success of new instructors. Originally started as a research project, the Guardian Angel program has proven to be the answer, as well. Historically, we were losing about a third of our new instructors in their first year. We wanted to know why so we assigned a Mentor to each new instructor starting with the first IP in 2012. The objective was to discover what things the new instructors were encountering that contributed to the high attrition rate. As it turns out, the personal attention that was a part of the project was the critical factor. Since the project’s inception, the attrition rate has dropped to align with that of the instructor body in general – around nine percent.
It makes sense, too. New instructors, depending on their location, typically work with different Mentors for each class. There isn’t a consistent personal presence to track their progress, answer specific questions and so on. Even though experienced instructors are more than willing to help, new instructors frequently express that they don’t want to “bother” others with their questions. So the new instructors were often left dangling and confused, and many ended up leaving us.
The beauty of the Guardian Angel program is that the Mentor comes to the new person which eliminates that barrier. There is also a continuity that helps the new instructors get more firmly grounded. The results speak for themselves.
How Do I Qualify?
First, you will need to be an experienced active Mentor Instructor. (See Mentor Training above or section 3.1.1.4. Mentor Instructor in the Policy and Procedures Manual.) To qualify to be invited to serve as a Guardian Angel, a Mentor must be proficient and exhibit a very high level of consistency with the program policies and values. After reading the description above you can see why this part is so critical. In addition, a potential Guardian Angel must be willing to make the commitment to a new instructor for their first calendar year and be prepared to follow through on that commitment. In the beginning this will involve nearly weekly contact as the new instructor works through their training period.
Questions?
We would love to help you prepare to serve as a Mentor or Guardian Angel. If this role is something you’d like to reach out for, contact Michael Heinen.