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Get a Mentor- Be a Mentor!!! Mentoring is often talked about but rarely executed well. Many companies “assign” Mentors to new employees. Assigning mentors is a nice try, but often falls short of success. Successful mentoring is a 2-way street, and the process of assigning Mentors to Mentorees is similar to blind dating. If one or both of the assigned parties involved in the mentoring is not interested, the “mentoring date” will end at Starbucks. Finding the right Mentor is not that difficult. Just look for people that you respect, explain to them why you respect them, what your goals are and ask them if they would take some time to work with you. More times than not, they will feel so complimented and honored that you think so highly of them that they will love to work with you. EVERYONE should seek at least one mentor to look to for guidance and development. It may indeed be an assigned Mentor, but if it is not, don’t give up. Find the person, or better yet, persons that you are genuinely interested in learning from and take full advantage of the opportunity. Finding one Mentor is good, however multiple Mentors can offer a diversity of experiences for you to learn from. Look for multiple opportunities with many Mentors. The more genuine Mentors that you have the privilege of working with the better. I have been fortunate enough to have several Mentors over the last 15 years that have been kind enough to influence my refinement, my development, and my maturity as a leader. I will mention their names not only to give them the credit that they deserve, and to check to see if they are reading my blog, but to illustrate how multiple Mentors provide you with a diversity of experiences. Joe Sanders- CIO for the City of Memphis http://www.linkedin.com/pub/joe-sanders/6/813/84 Joe was my first business Mentor, he taught me the importance of diplomacy, leading by example, relationship building, getting involved and having a cause. Charles Williams- Sr. Partner at KEDAR Inc. http://www.linkedin.com/in/cwill1 Many people that know me would be surprised at the influence that Charles had as I developed into the Senior Technology Leader that I am today. Charles taught me the importance of communication, follow up, and reporting. This mentorship occurred while Charles was a Senior Leader in my company. I was a lower level manager that had deliverables assigned to Charles. At times, this mentorship was very contentious, he was very demanding, and at times I had trouble understanding his motivation. However, since Charles was a Senior Leader that had more experience and “skins on the wall” than I did, I figured that he had something to offer. I reluctantly complied with Charles’ demands, and accepted his feedback. You might even say that I did not even know that Charles was mentoring me until a couple years after the mentoring actually took place. So in a way Charles “Jedi mind tricked me” into being mentored by him. But none the less, he was a tremendous influence in my professional development. Patrick Ruckh- Chief Operating Officer Tennman Digital http://www.linkedin.com/in/pruckh I had the pleasure of working in Mr. Ruckh’s organization for a over 6 years. During this time he taught me the importance of integrity, ethics, and values. He also taught me through his actions that successful leaders step up and make difficult decisions, they state the facts, and they do not ignore barriers in hopes that other people eliminate them, true leaders attack issues head on. Patricia Brown- Sr. Vice President First Horizon National Corp Pat is a master at getting people engaged and building successful relationships. She is without a doubt the smartest person that I have ever met. She has the ability to quickly grasp and analyze any concept, technology, or proposal. And she is not afraid to ask questions or request more information. She mentored me through her actions as well as the 1 on 1 development that she provided to me when it came to building and presenting a compelling business case, setting appropriate expectations and communicating the consequences related to each business decision. These 4 leaders have had a tremendous impact on my development and I cannot thank them enough for what they have provided to me. One cannot put a price on the value that Mentors provide. I would bet that there is not one C-Level executive in the world today that has not utilized a Mentor in their successful career. You should actively look to Mentor others when given the opportunity. Whether you serve as a Mentor to youth, business associates, or within your community, mentoring others is a way of paying back those that mentored you. As a Mentor, you are also passing your knowledge, skills, experience, and advice onto those who are genuinely interested in learning from you and you are increasing your circle of influence while doing so. |