Mentors
I was talking with someone the other day about having and getting mentors. I think mentors are crucial in any job or workplace.
Dictionary.com defines mentor as "a wise and trusted guide and advisor." I define a mentor as someone who will share their knowledge and experience with you and help you figure out what's important and what you just have to let go. I suppose a friend could be a mentor but you really need someone who will be blunt and honest even if that might hurt your feelings. Mentors need to tell you the truth.
My new workplace (I'll be new there for a couple of years) has a formal mentoring program that includes group, email and face-to-face mentoring. Unfortunately for me, it's closed to employees at my job level this year because they enrolled a bunch of people at my level last year.
So I have to find a mentor the good old fashioned way--watch for someone who knows what they're talking about and has the time and inclination to sit down with me when I need it and just talk things over.
At Not Big Blue I eventually discovered a great mentor. He was an expert at handling the incompetent middle managers so he could get things done. I would storm into his office, mad as hell about something the management was doing and he would chuckle, hear me out (so I calmed down), and help me analyze the situation and devise a counter strategy. He helped me figure out how to sway my organization's managers into establishing a relationship with the U which cost the company thousands of dollars but was great for our group and the U students.
My first manager at Widgets was the closest thing I had to a mentor there. I think she became more of a mentor after she left when I would email complaints and she would tell me to cut out the whining and get moving. She was always telling me to get certified as a project manager and I thought it was weird--big mistake since she would have helped me when she was my manager. When I decided to leave Widgets I emailed her my resume and she replied with something like "NO. Here's some examples of what you should say and here's a job description with the terms you need to use..." It helped me quite a bit.
I have a couple of people that may work as mentors for me now. One is young but with a lot of company experience and the ability to explain anything and to help me form plans to deal with "situations." The other is a senior project manager who has already given me some stern direction to get more aggressive about my role-I'm working on it.
My manager also mentors me. Our weekly one-on-one meeting usually involves me asking questions about some company group/practice I really don't understand, or, like today, asking advice about what to do in a specific situation. He's always helpful and practical. I feel like I can take any problem to him but when you talk to your manager there's always that worry that you'll ask a question that'll make your manager say "You did WHAT?"
So, I'll keep looking for help, advice and guidance from wherever I can get it.
Dictionary.com defines mentor as "a wise and trusted guide and advisor." I define a mentor as someone who will share their knowledge and experience with you and help you figure out what's important and what you just have to let go. I suppose a friend could be a mentor but you really need someone who will be blunt and honest even if that might hurt your feelings. Mentors need to tell you the truth.
My new workplace (I'll be new there for a couple of years) has a formal mentoring program that includes group, email and face-to-face mentoring. Unfortunately for me, it's closed to employees at my job level this year because they enrolled a bunch of people at my level last year.
So I have to find a mentor the good old fashioned way--watch for someone who knows what they're talking about and has the time and inclination to sit down with me when I need it and just talk things over.
At Not Big Blue I eventually discovered a great mentor. He was an expert at handling the incompetent middle managers so he could get things done. I would storm into his office, mad as hell about something the management was doing and he would chuckle, hear me out (so I calmed down), and help me analyze the situation and devise a counter strategy. He helped me figure out how to sway my organization's managers into establishing a relationship with the U which cost the company thousands of dollars but was great for our group and the U students.
My first manager at Widgets was the closest thing I had to a mentor there. I think she became more of a mentor after she left when I would email complaints and she would tell me to cut out the whining and get moving. She was always telling me to get certified as a project manager and I thought it was weird--big mistake since she would have helped me when she was my manager. When I decided to leave Widgets I emailed her my resume and she replied with something like "NO. Here's some examples of what you should say and here's a job description with the terms you need to use..." It helped me quite a bit.
I have a couple of people that may work as mentors for me now. One is young but with a lot of company experience and the ability to explain anything and to help me form plans to deal with "situations." The other is a senior project manager who has already given me some stern direction to get more aggressive about my role-I'm working on it.
My manager also mentors me. Our weekly one-on-one meeting usually involves me asking questions about some company group/practice I really don't understand, or, like today, asking advice about what to do in a specific situation. He's always helpful and practical. I feel like I can take any problem to him but when you talk to your manager there's always that worry that you'll ask a question that'll make your manager say "You did WHAT?"
So, I'll keep looking for help, advice and guidance from wherever I can get it.
posted by changingagain at 8:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home