Looking for A Career Mentor

We come to a new job or organization with skills, knowledge, and a motivation to perform well and make our mark. Whatever our level of experience and self-assurance, however, we are bound to encounter surprises and unanticipated complexities. The difference between really succeeding or floundering can be an in-house guide and role model--a mentor.

Mentoring has achieved recognition in recent decades both in work and community settings. Children deprived of wholesome role models in the home for one reason or another have been saved from lifelong suffering by regular contact with a caring person who offered guidance and taught character traits. So, too, employers have brought out the best in employees by assigning or encouraging their engagement with seasoned, empathetic workers who could facilitate the learning of the job skills and personal interrelationships essential to superior performance.

Many organizations, particularly the larger ones, have incorporated mentoring into training and development programs. The practice of "shadowing" a highly regarded senior official or performer to observe technique and decision-making processes is a key element in many such programs. But in a place which lacks this type of formal arrangement, an employee who wants to go as far as he can should take on the responsibility of identifying a person or persons who can provide guidance on how best to work with the team to advance the organization's mission.

The first step is to become familiar with the office's leaders and outstanding performers. The next step is to ascertain whether any of these people also have the interest and character to invest time and effort into counseling and advising a more junior colleague. It may be necessary to interview several officials before a good match is made and a relationship begun.

A mentor can offer insight into the "informal" organization: "how things really get done around here." Conversely, he or she can identify unseen roadblocks and obstacles, from troublesome processes to personal conflicts and rivalries. The mentor can identify the most reliable sources for information, both within and outside of the organization, make introductions, offer technical advice, and, perhaps most important, model the personal traits and skills that make him or her an effective, sought-after contributor to organizational success.

If both the technical and personal attributes do not seem to exist in any one person, two or more mentors may be necessary. But the bottom line is that an employee who aspires to be a star or a leader--or both--can get there more easily with guidance from someone or ones who have already made it on their merits.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds