| Course | WMBA 6633 Personal Leadership: Mentoring and Coaching |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 10 |
| Paper type | Reflective memo |
| Length | About 840 words, 5 pages |
| Format | Memo, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration (MBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for WMBA 6633 Week 10
Memorandum
To: WMBA 6633 instructor and learning file
From: Operations Manager, Tri-County Logistics
Date: August 9, 2027
Re: A mentoring conversation that went wrong, and the move I missed
The Conversation
On April 14, 2027, at our monthly lunch, M. T., an inventory planner I have mentored for about two years at our composite Indiana distribution business, mentioned that a second-shift inventory supervisor role had been posted. The exchange went roughly as follows.
M. T.: "I saw the supervisor posting. I don't know. I like the planning part of my job."
Me: "You'd be good at it. People already come to you with questions."
M. T.: "Maybe. I'm just not sure I want to spend my nights sorting out who's on break."
Me: "Everybody feels that way before their first supervisor job. I did. You learn the people part fast."
M. T.: "I guess."
Me: "Apply. Worst case, you get interview practice."
She applied the next day. Two days later she withdrew, told the hiring manager it was a timing issue and canceled our May lunch with a short message. When we met again in June, she said she had applied mostly because I seemed sure she should.
Where the Exchange Turned
The turn came at her first sentence, and I missed it twice. "I like the planning part of my job" was a statement about what she valued, not an expression of doubt about her ability. I heard it as nervousness, because that is what I felt before my first supervisor role, and I answered the nervousness I had imagined with reassurance about her skills.
Her second sentence, about sorting out breaks, gave me another chance. It described a specific part of the job she did not want. I treated it as the usual anxiety of a first-time manager and told her it would pass. By the time I said "apply," I had replaced her question, whether this job fit what she wanted from work, with mine, whether she could do it.
Why I Misread It
Three things account for the error. The first is projection. My own move into supervision felt like a fear I had to push through, and I assumed hers was the same. Kram (1985) noted that mentors often see their protégés partly through their own careers, which can be a source of insight but also of distortion. Here it was distortion.
The second is the role I had drifted into. Over two years, I had begun acting more as a sponsor than a sounding board, making introductions and recommending her for projects. Sponsorship carries an assumption that the protégé wants to move up the visible ladder. Allen et al. (2004), in a meta-analysis of mentoring outcomes, found that career-related mentoring was linked more strongly to outcomes such as promotion and pay, while psychosocial mentoring was linked more strongly to satisfaction with the mentor. I had shifted toward the first kind of support without checking whether it was what she wanted.
The third is speed. The conversation lasted perhaps three minutes before I gave advice. Each of my lines answered hers without asking anything.
The Move That Was Available
The available move was a question at the first turn: "What is it about the planning part that you like?" Her answer would likely have described the analytical work she does well and enjoys, the forecasting and the puzzle of matching inventory to orders. A second question would have followed: "What would a supervisor job take away from that, and what would it add?" Those two questions would have let her weigh the role against her own values rather than against my confidence in her.
Schön (1983) distinguished reflection in action, adjusting while the situation unfolds, from reflection on action afterward. This memo is reflection on action. The value of writing it is to make reflection in action more likely next time: to notice, during the conversation, the moment when I start answering a question she has not asked.
What Changed Afterward
At our June lunch I told M. T. that I had pushed her toward the posting because of my own history, and asked what she wanted her work to look like in three years. She described a role in demand planning, analytical and senior but without direct reports. We have since talked about what that path requires, including a forecasting certification and exposure to client planning meetings, which I can arrange. She has not raised management again, and I have not raised it either.
What I Will Do Differently
When she brings me a decision, two questions from me will come before any opinion. When I notice that I am about to tell a story from my own career, I will hold it until she asks what I did. And at our next lunch I will ask her directly whether the introductions and recommendations I make are helping her or steering her, since she is better placed than I am to know.
References
Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 127-136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.1.127
Kram, K. E. (1985). Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Scott, Foresman.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
What the WMBA 6633 Week 10 instructions ask for
The tenth week asks for a reflective memo on a coaching or mentoring conversation you handled badly. The memo should reproduce enough of the conversation, ideally as a short dialogue, for a reader to see the error without being told where it lies. It should then identify the moment the exchange turned, explain why you misread or mishandled it and state the specific alternative move that was available, in words you could have said. Use the course readings to explain the error, not to excuse it. A section on what happened afterward and what you will do differently gives the reflection practical value. The memo is judged on the quality of its analysis rather than on how sorry the writer sounds. Two to three pages in memo form is the norm.
How this WMBA 6633 Week 10 example is built
The memo opens with a six-line exchange at an April lunch: M. T. says she likes the planning part of her job, the mentor says she would be good at supervising, she mentions not wanting to sort out breaks, he says the feeling passes and tells her to apply. She applied, withdrew and canceled May's lunch. A section pins the turn to her first sentence, heard as doubt when it expressed a value. The causes section names projection, citing Kram, a drift into sponsorship, citing Allen and colleagues on career and psychosocial mentoring, and speed. The alternative is two questions about what she likes and what the job would take away. Schön frames the memo as reflection on action. Sections report the June repair and three changes. Four margin notes mark the method.
WMBA 6633 Week 10 rubric: what earns full marks
The highest marks go to memos in which the error is precise. A memo that says the conversation went badly earns less than one that names the sentence where it turned and shows how the writer's response missed it. The explanation of why it happened should go beyond lack of attention to something the writer can act on, such as projecting their own history onto the other person. The alternative must be a real move, stated in words, at the right moment. Readings should explain the mechanism of the error. Reporting the consequences honestly, and what was done to repair them, shows accountability without turning the memo into an apology. Specific commitments for future conversations close the loop and are checked against the analysis.
WMBA 6633 Week 10 help from the desk
Choose a conversation where you can name the cost of the error, such as a decision made, a relationship strained or an opportunity missed. Write the dialogue from memory before analyzing it, then read it as if a colleague had written it and find the turning point. Ask what you believed about the other person at that moment and where the belief came from. Common weaknesses include memos that describe feelings at length but never identify the moment, alternatives that are vague ("I should have listened more") and readings used as general support. Another is blaming the other person for the misunderstanding. Keep the memo short and specific. Describe the exchange you regret and its aftermath, and a model reflective memo can be prepared from it.
Get a WMBA 6633 Week 10 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 10 prompt and the rubric along with a rough account of the conversation, including what was said just before it turned, and a drafted memo returns inside 24 to 48 hours, with nothing to pay the first time. Accounts written in a few unpolished sentences work better here than tidy summaries, because the detail is the material.
More WMBA 6633 papers and MBA samples
- WMBA 6633 Week 1: Mentor Influence Discussion Post
- WMBA 6633 Week 2: Coaching vs Mentoring Comparison
- WMBA 6633 Week 3: GROW Coaching Model Application
- WMBA 6633 Week 4: Coaching Agreement and Rationale
- WMBA 6633 Week 5: Coaching Goal Peer Replies
- WMBA 6633 Week 6: Coaching Questions Practice
- WMBA 6633 Week 7: Written Feedback Draft
- WMBA 6633 Week 8: Coaching Boundary Memo
- WMBA 6633 Week 9: Coaching Progress Review
- WMBA 6633 Week 11: Individual Development Plan
- WMBA 6627 Week 10: Stakeholder Briefing Note
- WMBA 6623 Week 10: Risk Escalation Protocol
- WMBA 6620 Week 10: Earned Value Status Report
- WMBA 6615 Week 10: Culture Investment Brief
WMBA 6633 Week 10 questions, answered
Where can I find a free WMBA 6633 Week 10 sample paper?
The reflective memo on a misread mentoring lunch is free to read on this page, dialogue and margin notes included.
What conversation does the WMBA 6633 Week 10 memo analyze?
A mentoring lunch in which a planner raised a supervisor opening and the mentor urged her to apply, after which she withdrew and canceled their next meeting.
Where did the exchange turn?
At her first sentence, "I like the planning part of my job," which expressed a value but was heard as nervousness about managing.
Why does the memo say the mentor misread her?
Projection of his own first move into supervision, a drift from sounding board toward sponsor and answering each line without asking anything.
What move was available?
Asking what she liked about planning, then what a supervisor job would take away from that and what it would add.