Developing your own style

When I was going through the mentee process, one of my mentors gave me some great advice."Mediate with a lot of different people," he said. "Eventually you will develop your own style." I'm still working on developing my mediation style, but the advice is true for other activities. When I was training to teach the co-parenting class (designed for parents who have separated), I co-taught with three deifferent instructors, each with her own style. All the information provided in the class is the same, but the presentation is slightly different, depending on the instructor. Some use prepared charts, others overheads or add information to a flip chart as it is presented.
Most parents attend the class because a judge has ordered them here. They think they are being punished or that the court thinks they are bad parents. After more than a year teaching this class, I have my own style, drawn in part from those who trained me and mixed with my own perspective and personality. The introductioon--designed to make them more comfortable and willing to participate --is now mine. So is the closing at the end of the class. The material in between is the same information the other trainers present, but done in my fashion.
Now that I'm actually mentoring a new trainer, my approach is to team her with each of the trainers, and not just me. Eventually, she will develop her own style, based in part on something from each of us and then mixed with her unique perspective and personality.

Chuck Hardwick