Victoria Police Leaders Mentoring Program Overview
Introduction
Victoria Police, Rotary and the Victorian business community have established a
successful partnership to deliver the mentoring program for police members who are
considered to be high performing leaders within their field. For over 14 years the
program has provided valuable personal and professional development experiences
to over 250 Victoria Police members and to their mentors, who regularly report they
gained as much as their mentees. All Victorian Rotary Districts participate in this
program. It is governed by a Steering Committee, comprising members of Victoria
Police, the Business Community and Rotary.
The VPLMP will again run from March this year for 12 months. This document
provides a brief overview and outlines what it would involve for a Rotary mentor and
for their sponsoring club.
Program Objectives
The Victoria Police Strategic Objectives published in September 2015 are about
effective police service delivery, improving community safety, working with its
stakeholders, achieving through its people and developing its business.
The mentoring program brings diverse perspectives and experiences from outside
Victoria Police to benefit the capability of mentees in meeting these objectives. It is
delivered in two streams aligned to the developmental needs of participants. Senior
business executives are assigned as mentors to Police Officers from Superintendent
and above (Stream 1) whilst experienced Rotarians are assigned as mentors to Senior
Sergeants (Stream 2).
The Role of Rotary in Stream 2
Senior Sergeants manage over 70% of the Victoria Police membership and are
responsible for the front line delivery of service to the community. It is because of
Rotary’s commitment to community service that it is invited to provide mentors to
Stream 2 mentees. Through the Stream 2 mentoring program Victoria Police seeks
to develop the understanding and capability of mentees in:
Developing leadership skills in a community service setting
Building community partnerships, managing stakeholder relationships and
building networks
Community organisational approaches to addressing issues and needs
Applying business management approaches to community service planning
and delivery
What is Expected of a Rotary Mentor?
In summary a mentor’s role is:
to assist the development of strategic thinking by the mentee;
to be a careful and active listener; to hold up a mirror on the mentee’s own
behaviours, or impact on others;
to positively reinforce and encourage the mentee;
to point out opportunities for growth and development;
to expose the mentee to new learning opportunities.
In addition to these general characteristics your experience and insights from being
an active Rotarian can be invaluable to your mentee in areas like governance,
community service project management, and leadership through influence. Your
mentee’s understanding of how Rotary delivers community service and its different
leadership styles will be enhanced by witnessing your Club at work.
Time Commitment
Clearly the role requires a trusting open relationship be developed between mentor
and mentee early in the program. The time required to build mentoring
relationships will obviously vary, but typically mentoring meetings are held once a
month for one to two hours.
Mentor Selection Procedure
Victoria Police mentees are selected on a competitive basis and are stationed all over
the state. Once this information is at hand the Steering Committee approaches
potential mentors or Clubs and located close to the mentee’s place of work or home.
Expressions of interest are sought from mentors that have:
Ability to fulfil the role of a mentor
a sound knowledge of how Rotary is managed at Club and District level
current or recent leadership experience
sufficient time to commit to the program
been personally involved in meaningful community engagement programs or
projects
the endorsement of their club president and the support of their club
Nomination
Detailed guidelines and a nomination form can be accessed by registering your
interest on the website https://rotarymentors.org.au/ .
Please contact PP Jim Wilson if you are interested in joining this program. Jim can be contacted on: jameswilson@iinet.net.au
