The Mentor Catalyst

This post can be summed up in the following sentence: You don't know everything. 

         One of my favorite activities in a recent Financial Investment Seminar I attended a few weeks ago involved ten participants, ten separate sheets of instructions, and ten handfuls of gummy bears. The only rules for the game that were given to the entire group were as follows 1. we were not to share our instructions with anyone else, 2. the first person to use up all their gummy bears was the winner, and 3. there was to be no talking. 
        
        Opening my instructions, I found a half page of directions about what color of gummy bear meant what (i.e. two red bears were to be traded in after five minutes, five untradable blue bears were given to people who couldn't produce two red bears, and three green bears are worth two red bears, etc.) 
       
         Now that everyone had read their instructions, the game was on! If you don't think a room full of middle-aged professional company representatives can be competitive, you have another think coming! For twenty brutally back-stabbing and ferociously competitive minutes, we finally had a winner; an elderly woman who was about four foot nothing with a large grin on her face gave away her last two red bears. Needless to say, many men in designer suits (whom I saw sneak a few bears into other people's hands) had the decency to look ashamed. 
        
         Reconvening in the next room, we were told to share our instructions with the group. We found that every one of us had different instructions. Some of us were given a full sheet of detailed instructions and tips to help us, some, like mine, had half sheets of gummy bear conversions, and some sheets had just the line of how many gummy bears were to be traded in after five minutes. My absolute favorite were the sheets of instructions with gibberish on them. An entire sheet of nothing but wingdings and illegible language. 
         
        In summary, the game is a representation of the current American economy and job market. Some individuals have all the answers, some have a good start, some just have the basics, and then the majority that has no idea what they are doing. Every year, the number of individuals who attempt to enter the job market or make a transition make more mistakes than successes, often discouraging more and more laborers every day. It's at no fault of the individual, but it's the controlled chaos that makes up our nation. The greatest solution to this problem is a good mentor.
          
         A mentor is more than an older individual whom you email once in a while to see how they are doing. A mentor is another person in your industry or field who acts as a catalyst to get you to that next step in your career. Whether it be help call around for a quote on a market trend, helping you find new employees, or getting a meeting with the owner of your dream job, a mentor is the single most influential character in your career other than yourself.


Benefits of a Mentor

1. Knowledge and contacts

An often unique benefit that can only be gained from a good mentor is a combination of detailed industry knowledge and personal introductions to the mentor's contacts (aka "networking"), which have often taken the mentor many years to establish, and which might not otherwise be readily available to you. My personal recommendation is to find a mentor in HR or banking. Their entire career is based on creating and maintaining relationships.

2. Business and life skills

As a mentee, you can also learn valuable business and life skills from your mentor, including best business practices, appropriate behaviors and protocols. Everyone can afford to learn a new job skill to further their career. 

3. Insight

A good mentor can also arrange experiences, such as participation in meetings, events or work experience, which will enable you to get insight into an organisation's culture and systems, or how a specific role is performed in that organisation. Many industries have been cracking down on privacy laws, so make sure you discuss with your mentor how these types of experiences can be accomplished without jeopardizing anyone's job.

4. Perspective and vision

Discussions with your mentor will stretch your thinking by providing you with another perspective to your own, as well as the benefit of your mentor's vision, which comes from their wider experience. As the old saying goes, "The best advice to follow is your own."

5. Reduced feelings of isolation

Working with a mentor also often creates a sense of peer partnership that might not otherwise be available to you within your organisation, whether your at the bottom or the top of the pecking order. 

6. Wisdom and learning from past experiences

As a mentee, you can also benefit greatly from hearing the lessons that your mentor has learned along the way through their past experiences - both their successes and failures. 

7. Improved performance

A good mentor will provide you with valuable feedback or make suggestions that will enable you  to improve your skills or to experience personal growth, ultimately leading to your improved performance. 

8. Talent development

Where a mentor is an expert in a particular field, they'll often be able to spot your unique talents and make suggestions about to how you can further develop and make the most of your talents and gifts. 

9. A sounding board

Having a good mentor will also enable you to test your ideas and discuss your points of view with an interested listener in a safe and confidential environment. 

10. Learn how to be a good mentor

The experience of working with a good mentor will also serve as a training ground to enable you to develop good mentoring behaviors and become a good mentor for others. 


How to Find a Mentor

1. Ask yourself what you want in a mentor

Is it an expert who can help with a specific business challenge—asking for a raise, say, or ways to spiff up your image with the proper dress for success attire? Do you want someone inside your workplace who has the inside track to be an advocate for your project or promotion, or someone who can act as a more general sounding board and big-picture guide?

2. Check your employer’s human resources department

Many big corporations– General Mills, Intel, Ernst & Young, Proctor & Gamble, American Express, Cisco, Citi, Deloitte, Intel, Morgan Stanley and Time Warner offer sponsorship and mentoring programs. Entrepreneurs might tap into industry associations or SCORE.org, a nonprofit association and resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

3. Look outside the office

Mentoring doesn't have to be a business relationship. You can find mentors outside the workplace from associations you belong to, activities you’re involved in, neighbors, and relatives.

4. Do an Advanced People Search on LinkedIn

You might search for someone from your alma mater. You type in a title and your university, for example, current vice presidents of marketing and attended Duke University. You can focus the search on your zip code or town, so you can connect with someone nearby.

5. Consider a mentor younger than you

50-plus workers might want to find someone who may be junior in age, but can offer more experience and guidance when it comes to new fields and areas where they might not be quite as fluent.

6. Practice your “Why Me” speech

This is a sales job. Landing a sponsor calls for self-promotion. You must toot your own horn. They aren't going to back someone who doesn't have the potential to be a winner and make them look good.

7. Steer clear of the formal request

The “Will you be my mentor?” invitation can be stiff and off-putting. Sounds like way too much work and responsibility. The main reason most mentors and sponsors say they take the time to counsel and help is the intangible satisfaction they get in paying it forward. Start by simply asking for advice on one action or problem.

8. Show them how to help

If you truly have a pressing need, take the plunge and make a specific request when you want someone to speak up on your behalf. Most people don’t know where to start to help you.

9. Make it fun

When asking, don’t make it sound like work. Exude a sense of excitement. Mentorship is an energy-boosting opportunity for both of you, and it often turns into a friendship. Find ways to meet regularly, even without an urgent agenda. Nurture the relationship.

10. Show your gratitude

Make the relationship reciprocal by serving as a source of information and support for your mentor in some way. It’s the proverbial two-way street.

11. Be a mentor

This will give you a better idea of how to work with a mentor yourself. Even if you are at the bottom of your hierarchy at work, you might find mentees through alumni associations or non-profits where you volunteer.

12. Listen

Whether you are the mentor or mentee, you can cultivate the relationship by asking questions and sincerely listening to the answers. Sometimes a mentor’s most important input is to give practical feedback. Resist the knee-jerk urge to respond defensively.

External Resources: 

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