THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTORING

WHAT IS MENTORING?

The name Mentor comes from Greek mythology and does have nautical connections. Mentor was a loyal friend and adviser to Odysseus, King of Ithaca. Mentor helped raise Odysseus' son, Telemachus, while Odysseus was away fighting the Trojan War. Mentor became Telemachus' teacher, coach, counsellor and protector, building a relationship based on affection and trust. We all need mentors, but are not always as fortunate as Telemachus. The Hellenic Branch of the Institute got there first!

Thinking back to your own days as a trainee or junior officer, you probably sailed with some people who were good teachers, gave you encouragement and guidance, let you try things out for yourself, congratulated you when you got things right, and encouraged and advised you on how to do better next time if things went a bit wrong. You probably also met people who took no interest in your training, did not explain things clearly, gave you very little chance to try things out for yourself and shouted at you when you made mistakes. Does that sound familiar? Not everyone is very good or very bad, most are in the mid-range somewhere. The important thing is that we can all be better mentors if we try harder.

LEARNING FROM THE PAST

In the 1300s the City of London was in crisis. The city was full of rogues and swindlers, services were poor and the goods on sale were of very mixed quality, a lot of it shoddy. Major reasons for this were lack of quality control, poor training, and lack of supervision of apprentices and young craftsmen. The City fathers decided to start craft guilds to ensure that all craftsmen were properly trained as apprentices and mentored as “journeymen”, and that only skilled craftsmen would be allowed to supply goods and services. These are the Livery Companies which have played a major part in London becoming a world-recognised centre of trade and craftsmanship in the 100+ trades which they serve. In Europe and the rest of the world, the tradition of Master and Apprentice, the experienced craftsmen passing on their skills to the next generation, has been the key to professional progress. In the 1920s the Honourable Company of Master Mariners was formed in the UK and from the outset took a keen interest in raising standards of training in British and Commonwealth Merchant Fleets, and later, in 1970, the Nautical Institute was formed, aiming to assist the development of professional standards across the world. Raising professional standards means passing on our knowledge and skills to others.

THE SITUATION TODAY

The worldwide population of seafarers serving on internationally trading merchant ships is estimated to be in the order of 466,000 officers¹ and 721,000 ratings. The OECD countries (North America, Western Europe, Japan, etc.) plus India and the Philippines are important sources for officers, but growing numbers of officers are now recruited from other Far East and Eastern Europe countries. Mentoring often has to cross cultural and language barriers, as well as the normal age gap.

MENTORING: THE BASIC STEPS

The key steps in mentoring or coaching are as follows and there are ways that suitable publications and modern technology can help with the process. I will use a bridge watchkeeping example as an illustration:

1. Identify the gaps in the trainee's knowledge and skills.
Don’t just take the junior officer’s paper certificates and service records at face value. Discuss experiences and priorities with him or her. Get an idea of their attitude and confidence (or over-confidence!). As you are likely to be busy, it is a good idea to get the junior officer/trainee to read books such as the Nautical Institute’s “Bridge Watchkeeping - Study Guide” and “Bridge Watchkeeping-Briefing”. It will save you time and allow you to focus your discussion on important points. On Rule of the Road at Sea, there is no need for the senior officer mentoring a junior on the bridge to carry out a full “oral examination”. There are training aids to help with that. Videotel’s Collision Avoidance [link to Collision Avoidance] package is designed to do that as a first step before it deals with more hazardous encounters. I recall the Master questioning me before leaving me on the bridge alone for the first time at the age of 19. He finished by saying “Whatever you need to use, don’t hesitate: the wheel, the horn and the engines, it is just like driving a car. By the way – have you passed your driving test?” I said that I hadn’t, which must have worried him! He then added, “If you are in any doubt, call me!”

2. Choose a suitable project or procedure. Don't just delegate easy jobs.
Nothing can be more frustrating – or less useful and rewarding – than being allowed to keep bridge watches in mid-ocean when there is no traffic or coastal features to deal with, and then being sidelined into keeping a lookout when it gets interesting. I still remember my great feeling of achievement, when the Master allowed me, as Second Mate, to pilot the ship into a berth in Borneo when no pilot was available. Allowing a junior officer to take the lead during a challenging part of the voyage can be rewarding.

3. Briefing. Brief the trainee well beforehand: tell him or her the outcome you expect and any particular dangers to look out for. Help them to plan and let them ask questions.
Getting the briefing right first time is very important. It allows you to stand back and observe later, without having to say “Oh! By the way! I forgot to warn you about…….!” There are several useful training packages that can help you improve this important skill. It is not only the technology and operational factors that need to be taken into account. Relevant topics are to be found in Videotel’s Bridge Procedures and Bridge Resource Management [link to Bridge Procedures and Bridge Resource Management] packages and the Management Series [link to Management Series] which includes delegation, motivating individuals and communicating. “The Culture Gap - The Challenge of Intercultural Effectiveness” will give an understanding that the message you give through your ‘cultural filter’ may be very different from the message received through that of the trainee. I remember giving a senior apprentice some bridge experience in the Malacca Strait, I had warned him that radar ranges from mangroves on the coast were not reliable. When I went into the chartroom he had cleaned off all the fixes, plus the course line. When I asked “Why?” he said, “You told me they were unreliable!” Whose fault was that?

4. Carrying out the project or procedure. Let them carry out the work without unnecessary interference. This part calls for courage and steady nerves on your part as mentor. You will often want to interfere, but please don’t – it will make the learning process much less effective. Of course, if there is danger to the ship, people or the environment, you may need to step in to prevent serious problems. But try not to unless it really is necessary.

5. Appraisal or de-briefing. Afterwards, talk through with the trainee how things went, what they have learned from the experience, and how they could do it better next time. This is probably the most valuable part of the process. Encouraging those who are a bit unsure of themselves is relatively easy. Cautioning those who thing things are easy is more difficult. Some junior officers think that new technology provides all the answers and that near-misses are exciting! Changing their attitudes is a real challenge.

6.What next? Discuss with the trainee what the next step in their development should be. If it did not go well, perhaps try a similar exercise again. If it went well, then may be try something more difficult next time.

CAN YOU TEACH MENTORING?

When the Nautical Institute revised its publication “The Nautical Institute on Command”² I was pleased to be asked to write the section on “On Board Training and Development”. As the author of my own book “Training and Assessment on Board”³, I thought I knew a bit about the subject. When I submitted my manuscript to the editor, Julian Parker, it came back to me with a note in red pen saying, “Better go and do a course on mentoring and then complete the chapter”. As a result, the Command book has an Appendix on Mentoring at page 283. It ends with advice to those taking Command:

Remember

• People learn from you all the time, by the example you set.
• People learn from their own mistakes.
• Don’t blame people if they “screw up.”
• The person who never made a mistake, never learned anything!

MENTORING IN PROFESSIONAL BODIES

When asked why they joined, many members of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners said they wanted to “put something back” into the profession that had provided them with a worthwhile and satisfying career. By linking older members with young people who are starting out on their sea careers through a Master/Apprentice scheme, both groups gain tremendously. The younger ones realise from the outset the wealth of knowledge and experience which the older ones have built up over forty or fifty years service. Once the older ones realise that too, the slow process of unlocking their wisdom and passing it on to the next generation can begin! It is good to know that the Nautical Institute is also encouraging mentoring. 

NAUTICAL INSTITUTE: BELGIUM BRANCH 

It is fitting to finish this paper with a mention of an inspirational person in the Belgium Branch, Walter Vervloesem. Walter and his colleagues in Antwerp have linked the Nautical Institute Belgium branch members with local nautical college students. They hold meetings and discuss technical and operational topics. The discussion is lively! It is a very imaginative scheme and is one of the best ways a local branch can encourage and guide the next generation of seafarers. I hope many other branches will follow their example.

¹  www.marisec.org/shippingfacts/worldtrade/seafarers.php

²  Various Authors. The Nautical Institute on Command. Published by the Nautical Institute www.nautinst.org

³  L A Holder. Training and Assessment on Board. Third Edition. Published by Witherby and Company Limited www.witherbys.com