Getting Started with
Networking
Breakout Session #618
Sponsored by the NCMA Women’s Forum
Po Collins, CPCM, C.P.M., Fellow
20 July 2010
4:00-5:15 pm
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Agenda
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History
What Is a Mentor?
Why Have a Mentor?
Why Be a Mentor?
What Do Mentors Do?
How to Choose a Mentor
How to Be a Good Mentor/Mentee
Ground Rules & Guidelines
Build a Mentoring Culture
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History
• Mentoring in the Workplace
– Traditionally an informal practice
• The Original Mentor is Based in Mythology
– A character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey.
– Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was the first mentor.
• In the Odyssey she took on the form of a man named
Mentor in order to give Odysseus, King of Ithaca, advice.
• When Odysseus went to fight in the Trojan War, he
entrusted the care of his kingdom to Mentor.
• Mentor served as the teacher and overseer of Odysseus’
son, Telemachus.
• Even nowadays, men have been the
traditional mentors
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What Is a Mentor?
• Merriam-Webster: "a trusted counselor or guide."
• The Anesthesiology Department of Cleveland’s
MetroHealth System: "a wise, loyal advisor or coach."
• Mentoring refers to a developmental relationship
between a more experienced mentor and a less
experienced partner, or mentee.
• The mentee relies on the mentor’s guidance to gain
skills, perspective and experience.
• A mentor is an individual, usually older, always more
experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s
development. This guidance is not done for personal
gain.
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Do You Need a Mentor?
• You’re in a meeting, and it’s your opportunity to shine in
front of your company leaders. You begin to speak, but
someone else cuts you off and takes the discussion
down a different path.
• You offer a suggestion during a team meeting. No one
comments. Later in the meeting, another person offers
the same suggestion. This time everyone embraces it as
a great idea.
• You’re been working at a certain level for a few years,
and have received great reviews. A position at the next
level opens up in another city, but the company fills it
without asking about your interest. They assume you
wouldn’t want to relocate.
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Why Have a Mentor?
• A mentor can help you to get your career off to a
solid start.
• A mentor may be better able to predict where your
career is heading.
• A good mentor can be a valuable career resource
who helps:
– Tilt the scales in favor of growing a successful career
through improved performance / productivity
– Increase your confidence and well being
– Identify a range of career opportunities that may lead
to jobs you had not considered.
– Improve your knowledge & skills
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Why Have a Mentor?
• Mentors have put aside self-focus to foster
the growth of new professionals.
• Mentors help develop the insight that assists
with integrating professional life, personal
concerns and core values.
• A good mentor will challenge you, inspire
you, and demand that you do your best.
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What Will You Gain?
• Specific, practical information about
your profession:
– Entry requirements
– Opportunities for advancement
– Employment outlook.
– Characteristics for success
– Important issues facing the profession
– Personal rewards
– Sources of frustration.
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What Will You Gain?
• Real-life information:
– Potential career fields
– Personal contacts with working
professionals
– Interviewing experience in a nonthreatening atmosphere.
• Most importantly, mentors can relate a
personal account of their own career
path.
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Why Be a Mentor?
Mentoring Is a Strategic Business Imperative
• Knowledge also comes with experience.
• Each person brings different knowledge to the
organization.
• Each generation brings something different and valuable
to the organization.
• 76 million Baby Boomers represent a great deal of
knowledge, talent, and experience.
– They like collaborative learning & working in teams
• You will have the satisfaction of having done an
important job.
• Mentoring fosters a supportive business environment.
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What Do Mentors Do?
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Set high performance expectations
Offer challenging ideas
Help build self-confidence
Encourage professional behavior
Offer friendship
Listen to personal problems
Confront negative attitudes & behaviors
Teach/lead by example
Provide growth experiences
Offer quotable quotes
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What Do Mentors Do?
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Share critical knowledge
Explain how the company/employer works
Coach
Counsel
Stand by their mentees in critical situations
Encourage winning behavior
Enhance self-awareness
Inspire
Offer encouragement
Assist with their mentee's career
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What Do Mentors Do?
• Guide you.
• Offer constructive ideas about how you
might do things differently.
• Help you develop goals and strategies to
overcome problems.
• Help you see other ways of doing things.
• Give advice (if you are not interested in
listening don’t waste a mentor’s time).
• Volunteer their time (so listen -- don’t argue).
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How to Choose a Mentor
• List your top goals for the mentoring
relationship.
• Make sure you are willing to take direction
from a mentor.
• Consider what type of mentor you need:
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In your profession or another profession
In your company or a different company
Same or different background
Same or different gender
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How to Choose a Mentor
Men and women mentors fill different
needs.
“Women get caught in a nasty bind with the
notion they need some guy to be their
mentor. Finding wise people whose
judgment you trust, as opposed to looking
for hierarchical mentoring, should be your
focus.”
Geraldine Laybourne
Founder, Chair, and CEO
Oxygen Media
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How to Choose a Mentor
• Consider compatibility:
– Is the person encouraging?
– Does the person provide feedback?
– Can you communicate with the person?
– Do you respect the person?
• Choosing a friend as your mentor is not
a good idea.
– Save friends for networking
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How to Choose a Mentor
Brainstorm a list of prospective mentors.
• Select the top candidates who are aligned
with your goals.
• Call to set appointment.
• Prepare a short list of questions regarding
your current situation.
• Meet with them.
• Ask them about their history, current
situation, & goals.
• State your goals and ask your questions.
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How to Choose a Mentor
Brainstorm prospective mentors,
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• If you like their responses, ask, "I appreciate your
input on this, and I'd greatly value it on an ongoing
basis. Would you be willing to meet with me next
month to follow up on what we've discussed today?"
• Send a thank-you note.
• Take action on their suggestions.
• Call to discuss the results of those actions and
request a second appointment.
• Propose a mentoring relationship.
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Where to Find a Mentor
• Professional associations
– Look for volunteer leaders
• Community groups
– Chamber of Commerce
– Service organizations
• Your employer
– Company leaders
– Formal mentoring programs
• Networking events
– Speed mentoring
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Where to Find a Mentor
Find mentors in different places.
“Sometimes when young women say there
are no role models in their business, I tell
them that I think they should look
wherever they can, because you can
learn excellence even from a distance.”
Lulu Wang
Partner and CEO
Tupelo Capital Management
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Characteristics of a Mentor
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Role Model
Teacher
Supporter
Resource
Communicator
Listener
Patient
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How to Be a Good Mentor
• Keep your appointments with your
mentee
• Be willing to share experiences
• Work collaboratively
• Stay organized and focused
• Be approachable
• Don’t intimidate
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Habits of Ineffective Mentors
1. Decide when & where you’ll meet, and what
you’ll discuss, because you know best.
2. Remember that you know infinitely more
than your mentee.
3. Remind your mentee how much he has to
learn.
4. Do most of the talking.
5. Take your mentee to task when she doesn’t
follow your advice.
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Habits of Ineffective Mentors
6. Don’t ask what your mentee expects from you.
How would he know anyway?
7. Remind your mentee how fortunate she is to
have your attention. Your time is valuable.
8. You know what’s best for your mentee – don’t
let him forget it!
9. Discourage levity/humor. Mentoring is serious
business.
10. Never, never admit that this could be a
learning experience for you, too.
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How to Be a Good Mentee
• Keep your appointments with your mentor
• Be prepared to share experiences, & discuss
issues you’ve encountered.
• Work collaboratively
• Stay organized and focused
• Be willing to take direction.
• Listen effectively.
• Be loyal and supportive.
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Mentoring Ground Rules
• Agree on how often & how long you’ll meet
– Example: Monthly, for 60-90 minutes / session
• Ensure the meeting location & time works for
you both.
• Agree to an ethical code of practice.
• Decide whether you’ll sign a formal
mentoring agreement.
• Set expectations
• Decide how you’ll know when the mentoring
relationship has served its purpose.
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Agreement Guidelines
Date:
Review Date:
Name of Mentor:
Name of Mentee:
We will commit to meet for at least _____ hours per ________.
Yes
We will commit to have weekly phone contact.
We agree to work on the following during our 1-year commitment:
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We will meet at this time and location:
Grounds rules for discussion:
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If problems arise, how will they be resolved?
We will know the mentoring relationship has served its purpose when this
occurs.
Mentor Signature & Date:
Mentee Signature & Date:
No
Build a Mentoring Culture
• Share mentoring results
• Offer speed mentoring to match mentors
with mentees
• Reward employees for being mentors
– Don’t put up road blocks
• Offer workshops on how to mentor
effectively
• Enable knowledge transfer & knowledge
sharing
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Build a Mentoring Culture
“Think of what’s stored in an 80- or 90-year-old
mind. Just marvel at it. You’ve got to get
out this information, this knowledge,
because you’ve got something to pass on.
There’ll be nobody like you ever again.
Make the most of every molecule you’ve got
as long as you’ve got a second to go.”
Studs Terkel
Author
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Mentoring in Real Life
• Examples from the real world
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Wrap-Up
Questions?
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