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| A helping hand. PHOTO: effaynyrie.com |
First, Develop Your Criteria
What are you seeking to get from a mentoring relationship? Advice on the inner-workings of your company? A new job? Help with specific skills you feel you lack? This information may reside in different people, so it’s important to know what you want to learn before you begin the process of identifying target mentors. Once you’ve firmed up your criteria, read on.
How Do You Gain the Interest of a Prospective Mentor?
Mentoring expert and author of The Mentor’s Guide (2nd Edition), Lois Zachary, , says that it’s all in the messaging. The benefits to the mentor are many, and should be tailored to the specific situation. For example, benefits might include helping her contribute to the growth of the company. Mentoring can help strengthen facilitation or management skills.
Zachary also comments that the idea of paying it forward is very powerful, especially for senior people who are thinking about their legacy.
If your prospective mentor is at the C-level, the organizational benefits involved in mentoring can be a good incentive. For example, mentoring helps with the recruitment and retention of talent. Companies are very motivated to hold on to the talent they have, and create as much loyalty as possible.
Zachary also says that mentoring fast-tracks leadership development, creates a tried and true way to include new employees, and increases diversity—again, all areas of utmost interest to companies.
Once You Have a Mentor, How do You Make it Work?
Zachary says that Gen Y’s are embracing mentoring because it fits with their desire to move faster and more efficiently in their careers. Gen Y’s crave feedback and dislike authoritarian approaches, and they are interested in reverse mentoring older generations in social media and technology skills. In my own research I have found that Gen Y’s would gladly trade salary for mentoring.
Sarah Kathleen Peck, a communications specialist for an international landscape architecture company, says, “My best mentors? They have been in the sidelines, nudging and encouraging and prodding, allowing me room to explore and discover on my own. Sometimes your greatest advocates and champions aren’t the loudest people in your life, but they are highly influential.
People don’t need bosses who tell them what to do and talk incessantly; often the best mentor is a quiet ear that helps you figure out what to do on your own. This is how leaders are grown – by encouraging individuals to take the reigns in exploration, discovery, failure, and success.”
Ryan Paugh, Chief Of Staff, The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), says,“My best mentors have always been people who drive me crazy. Penelope Trunk, my co-founder at Brazen Careerist, is a good example. We spent the first year of our company resenting each other’s polar-opposite work styles, but turned out to be great friends in the end. To this day I count on her to challenge my business decisions and help me see things from a different perspective.
It’s funny that today I consciously make career decisions based on how challenging the rest of my leadership team is to work with. Sure, we drive each other crazy, but we learn so much from that and end up being the best mentors for one another.”
Megan Atkinson, an Energy Efficiency Professional, comments, “My greatest mentors have been those that recognize my talents and character while matching them to my priorities. Several mentors from past experiences tried to push me into a mold of yesteryear’s idea of mentoring. Being a tenacious young professional, my most valuable assets have been the mentors that recognize my generation’s need for a long-term vision. Brody was the sometimes brutally honest voice of reason when it came to navigating corporate culture and politics. Tom was inspiration to chase after what I want and fear less. Tina was the gentle yet tenacious helping hand offering her insights on career pathing and sharing ideas. They’ve all made the mentoring experience very collaborative and individualized – two high priorities Gen Yers (and I, personally) seek in any project or venture.”
Vanessa Francis, Associate Director, Community Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, says, “During my career, one mentor that stands out in my mind was a director of a local government agency where I worked for three years. My mentor provided great advice for not only handling my work load but also served as a sounding board and advised me on how to manage agency politics. When I decided to pursue another career, my mentor was extremely supportive by providing career advice and a recommendation to on my behalf to my new supervisor.”
Zachary’s book is brimming with advice and exercises on making the mentoring relationship really work for both mentor and mentee. In the meantime, there is much to say about mentoring and I’m planning a follow-up post. Send me your mentoring stories—both good and bad–so I can share them.
Forbes
