Is your career success linked to mentoring?
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I have never met a person who doesn't see some
value in mentoring. Which begs the question, why isn't there more
going on? Is it going on in informal ways and we just don't hear
about it? When I speak with association managers about mentoring,
they almost always seem to know the benefit to mentees –
it's rare to hear about the benefits for mentors. Perhaps this
is why there is a perceived shortage of individuals willing to
serve as mentors and little activity going on in a formal way.
Serving as a formal and informal mentor for at least ten individuals
in the association community, I'm often asked how I benefit from
the activity. What keeps me at it? I find the following benefits
in mentoring:
- I gain satisfaction in knowing that I am paying back, as
mentors took the time for me.
- have a great interest in developing capacity in the association
community and perhaps I can have an impact by helping associations
as public benefit organizations and therefore help fellow Canadians.
- It is often hard to find appreciation for what you do in a
work environment and mentoring provides recognition and rewards.
- I gain insight into the thinking of other generations.
- I make new friends with like minded people.
- I identify future talent for my own organization and for
others.
- I learn about different work practices and issues in the
association community.
- By sharing I can learn from both my mistakes and those of
others, and validate past, current and future plans.
While I think and believe I am a mentor, until sitting down
to write this article I never really gave consideration to specifically
defining the word "mentor". A mentor helps mentees with
strategy and focus to help them actualize their career management
plans. I believe most of my mentorships are informal - we do not
agree to standards of mentorship conduct or sign off on targets
reached as laid out in the mentee's career management plan. I
listen, encourage, provide advice and feedback on options, check
progress, assist with resumes and share related opportunities
as applicable.
When I am involved in a mentoring relationship, either formally
or informally, I always suggest mentees develop a career management
plan. Having a career management plan is important if you want
to plan and guide your career and achieve specific desired success.
Students in the last course of the CAE Program complete an assignment
that requires them to develop a career management plan. I am often
told that this is the most difficult assignment in the CAE program.
I hear comments such as, "I would rather do a marketing plan,
a new product benchmarking project, or a program or business analysis."
It is tough to face reality and look at oneself. Some students
will review their career management plan with a mentor. These
students are serious – many of them sign their plan and
treat it as a personal contract.
Most plans I have seen call for improvements in mentoring activity.
Many in the CAE program are looking for first time mentors or,
are hoping to add one or more mentors to their existing complement.
I am sure there are many others not taking the CAE program who
are looking for, or should be looking for mentors. For those not
in the CAE program, mentors may suggest if they plan on a career
working in association management they should take the CAE program.
One thing is certain - there is a need for more mentors in the
association community.
I regularly get calls or emails from students who go on to get
their CAE designation. They let me know they have a new job, and
that their plan is coming to fruition. Many have stated that one
of the best things CSAE has done for them is provide a learning
program that forced them to look at themselves. Discussion around
job success reveals that a career management plan and mentoring
play key roles.
There are different types of mentors, and it is not unusual for
a motivated individual to have several professional and life skills
mentors. It is also important to realize that a mentor does not
have to reside in the same city or province. One or more mentors
can provide different perspectives, and keep a mentee on track
and motivated.
Some mentees don't even know when mentoring is taking place.
In some cases they may think someone in their organization is
just butting in and being critical. Mentees need to understand
what mentoring is. Perhaps you can recall a particular situation
when you failed to realize that a mentor was trying to help you
get back on track.
Mentoring works. To make it happen, it often needs to start with
mentees who will establish the relationship based on their requirements
and then set the stage for arrangements. This puts an onus on
the mentee to understand mentoring and how to seek out and educate/develop
their mentor to support them based on expectations. Despite driving
the arrangement it is critical to never overlook the mentor's
expectations. Mentors are usually very busy and will want a focused
arrangement.
Taking a leadership role in the arrangement, mentees need to
speak up and express concerns to ensure their expectations are
met. This may require the mentee to be frank. Being frank is important
as some mentors can preach, may not listen, and make mistakes,
even if they have a big title. Being frank will prevent both the
mentee and mentor from wasting time.
Mentors need to ask how they can help the mentee and if they
as a mentor are meeting expectations. To meet mentee expectations,
mentors need to not only share their resume and successes, but
also their mistakes. Most importantly, mentors need to sit on
their egos on occasion and receive constructive feedback in a
gracious manner.
Not all individuals seeking a mentor are able to make a cold
call approach. Some large private sector and government organizations
have formal employee development programs that support mentoring
activity. Facilitators are used to help with mentoring activities
and they are able to bring people together. The association community
is made up primarily of small organizations and most have no dedicated
human resources department to promote and support mentoring. Perhaps
CSAE can look at establishing a quasi-confidential online registry
and provide mentoring "how to" tools or other information
to increase the level of this type of important activity.
If you are looking to experience the benefits that mentoring
can provide and would like to talk about the concept as a possible
CSAE service or share information or experiences, I suggest you
log on to www.csae.com and use the discussion forum titled "mentoring."
And, by the way, whether you are a mentee or a mentor, it is prudent
practice to brush the dust off of your career management plan,
or establish one if you have not yet done so. The rewards are
many.
This column features innovation and practical solutions applied
to challenges, trends, issue and opportunities for the association
community. Column editor Jim Pealow, MBA, CMA, CAE is a consultant
and the Association Management Education Program Lead Instructor/Coach
for CSAE. He can be reached at jim@amces.com.
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