Practical Applications of Coaching and Mentoring in Dentistry. Janine Brooks

The mentor allows student to observe mentor's behaviour, expertise: answers questions; provides guidance and wisdom for the stated purpose of the mentoring. The consultant stands back, evaluates a situation, and then tells client the problems and how to fix it. The coach stands with the client, and helps the client identify the challenges. Then they work together to turn challenges into victories. The client is held accountable to reach his or her desired goals.

Coach‐like leaders and managers have conversations with their staff that go beyond short‐term concerns, individual performance or team goals, and instead explore the person's life, including their dreams, life goals, and career hopes. This coach‐like leaderships style has been identified as a key factor of better employee engagement (Engage for Success 2009), notably the ‘Four Enablers’ of engagement.

What's Inside This Book

      Having outlined some key differences between interventions we can move onto think about how the book is structured.

      Chapter 2 provides an outline of the mechanics of mentoring. This is an opportunity to consider the who and why of mentoring. The characteristics of mentoring and being a mentor are reviewed. We explore what mentoring can achieve and the different types of mentoring. There is a section on criteria that can help when choosing a mentor. The ethics of mentoring are also an important consideration in this chapter.

      Chapter 3 reviews coaching: looking at what we mean by coaching, including definitions from the major coaching bodies. It also looks at some of the underpinning ideas or theories that inform coaching and which distinguishes this type of conversation from others, including differences between ‘mentoring’ and ‘coaching’. This theory is applied through the practical skills covered in the following chapter.

      Chapter 4 considers models used within mentoring and coaching with particular emphasis on the Forton model which is used extensively in our qualifications.

      Chapter 5 is the key focus of the book, the case studies. Here we include 12 case studies generously provided by each of our contributors. The case studies are real examples of how to use mentoring practically within dentistry in the UK. The studies have been grouped into five categories which include: dentists in difficulty; evaluation; early years – undergraduates, foundation dentists, and post foundation; general practice; and organisational culture and models/tools. They showcase the diversity of using mentoring alongside mentoring tools and related techniques.

      Chapter 6 covers discussion and conclusions. In this final chapter we review some of the lessons learned from the case studies and important themes that thread through. Communication is an aspect that can be found across the case studies and the categories of study. We look at some myths around mentoring and attempt to bust those myths. Looking beyond 1 : 1 mentoring is discussed as we consider team mentoring. Boundaries and barriers to mentoring also figure in the discussion and we conclude with a call for more case study contributions, to build on the body of knowledge, and with pointers for the way forward for coaching and mentoring in dentistry.

How to Use This Book

      We invite you to apply choice in how you use this book! Some people like to read cover to cover, and the format also encourages dipping into a chapter at a time, depending on your preferred approach.

This is a ‘text book’, in as much as any book about coaching or mentoring can be; specifically for the post‐graduate qualification programmes we teach. We also hope that dental professionals around the world will use this book as a starting point for developing their own skills and setting out on their own coaching and mentoring journey.

      Inspiration is a personal experience, and yet we aspire to inspire. We hope this book will inspire you to find a coach or mentor, or to try out the coaching approach in your role as leader or manager or indeed to train to become a mentor or coach.

      We also hope that you'll use this book to find out more about coaching and mentoring; we offer references at the end of each chapter and a ‘Further Reading’ list at the end of the book. We also invite you to get in touch with the authors, through the websites listed in the ‘Further Reading’ section.

References

      1 Clutterbuck, D. (2001). Everyone Needs a Mentor: Fostering Talent at Work. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

      2 Colley, H. (2002). A ‘rough guide’ to the history of mentoring from a Marxist feminist perspective. Journal of Education for Teaching 28 (3): 247–263.

      3 Department of Health (2004). The NHS knowledge and skills framework and the development review process.

      4 Engage for Success (2009) https://engageforsuccess.org/the‐four‐enablers.

      5 Gallwey, T., (1974) The Inner Game of Tennis. Joanathan Cape.

      6 General Dental Council (2017). Shifting the Balance, A better, fairer system of dental regulation.

      7 General Dental Council (2020). Moving upstream p.32.

      8 Goleman, D. (2000). An EI‐based theory of performance. In: The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace How to Select for, Measure, and Improve Emotional Intelligence in Individuals, Groups, and Organizations (eds. D. Goleman and C. Cherniss). San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass.

      9 Healthcare Commission (2005). NHS national staff survey 2004 – summary of key findings.

      10 Holt, R. (2013). Thesis, developing an holistic and person centred approach to professional practice and development using mentoring (with special reference to dentistry). Originally submitted for examination May 2013.

      11 Holt, R., Ladwa, R., (2008). Mentoring. A quality assurance tool for dentists. Part 1: the need for mentoring in dental practice. Primary Dental Care. Oct: 15(4):141–6.

      12 Roche, G.R. (1979) Much Ado about mentors. Harvard Business Review [Online]. Available at https://hbr.org/1979/01/much‐ado‐about‐mentors (Accessed 09 June 2020).

      13 Viney, R. and Paice, E, (2010). The First Five Hundred. A Report on London Deanery’s Coaching and Mentoring Service 2008–2010. The London Deanery.

      14 Whitmore (1992). Coaching for Performance: Growing People, Performance and Purpose. Nicholas Brealey.

2 Mentoring

      Holt and Ladwa (2008) in their study state that: ‘The authors conclude that the best tool for supporting the quality of performance of dentists is mentoring’.

      Such a short quote and yet it says so much and sets the tone for this Chapter. The key words are quality and performance, both should be interpreted as widely as possible.

      In this chapter we will review the process and relationship that is mentoring. We will consider the roles and skills of being a mentor and what mentoring can achieve. There is a section on how to choose a mentor and some factors to think about when matching mentors and mentees. The important aspect of ethics is included. How supervision fits into mentoring and finally the current state of play in dentistry in the UK.

      Mentoring is a relationship and a process, with a purpose: supporting someone to develop. It is a practical, applied activity, underpinned by skill and experience. Mentoring focuses on the present and on the mentees' future desired outcomes. The mentor supports the mentee