A mentor can prove to be the Midas touch to your career, provided you have chosen the right person for yourself
A still from the television show Suits, where a brilliant but down-on-his-luck Mike gets mentored by sharp-as-brass-tacks attorney Harvey Specter into having a successful career in a leading law firm.
A mentor can prove to be the Midas touch to your career, provided you have chosen the right person for yourself. Here’s a roadmap to the perfect mentor.
Choose the right mentor
Choosing the right person to guide you can pretty much mean the difference between success and failure, between having a miserable time of it, and having a mutually fulfilling interaction. Experts advise that you look for someone who is doing the kind of work and leading the kind of life that you want to. Emulating them makes it that much easier for you to reach your goals.
In identifying this person though, do put in some research: Look at their profiles on professional and social networking sites, talk to their colleagues or subordinates about them, and consider if their personality and working style is one that complements yours, and if he/she has a history of investing in other people’s careers. Only once you’ve considered all these variables should you possibly approach him/her to be your mentor.
Test drive
You test-drive a car you’re considering buying don’t you? Then why not “test drive” a potential mentor too? Ask him/her for help or guidance with a particular challenge and observe how they respond.
Does he/she seem willing to share their knowledge with you? Do they view you, and your desire to learn and grow, as a threat? Are they helping you reach your goal/solution? Do your values match? Were they accessible when you needed to approach them? If the way you’ve interacted seems satisfactory to you on all of these parameters, then you can take the next step in establishing a mentor-protégé relationship.
Ask, and you shall receive
A lot of people in positions of authority say that they’ve never mentored someone, simply because they’ve never been asked. If you want to be mentored by someone, why not let them know? If you’ve done your basic groundwork and established an affable relationship with the person you’re hoping to have as a mentor, there is no reason to believe that he or she will turn down an opportunity to sustain a mutually fulfilling long-term mentorship.
Remember, most people do like to do a good turn if they can, and being asked to mentor someone is a wonderful compliment. If the person declines, however, then you will know that you need to look elsewhere for guidance and can start the process afresh.
Know what you want
A mentor-protégé relationship may be different from the other equations you might have: For one, a mentor is usually at a higher or more advanced level (of expertise, age or hierarchy) than the protégé, and two, mentoring tends to take place within a professional sphere. However, the relationship is remarkably like any others that you may have, in the sense that it relies on clear communication between the two people.
Communication between mentor-protégé is essential to establish what each of you is looking for from the relationship, and precisely what function you hope the other person will fulfill in your career. Unless you are able to articulate what sort of guidance you need, how will your mentor be able to help you?
A mentor too needs to be able to transmit his or her ideas or expertise to the protégé in the best possible way. For all of this, open and honest communication is essential.
Return the favour
If you’re among those fortunate few who have a truly amazing mentor, ensure that you express your gratitude for it.
For most, genuine mentors, a simple thank you, or a thoughtful gesture of appreciation and an acknowledgement of their contributions towards their careers will suffice. But you need to ensure that they’re aware that if the situation was reversed and they were the ones needing support or assistance of any sort, you can be counted on to deliver.
The best mentor-protégé equations are those that last a lifetime and are as solid as the closest of friendships. Again, if you’ve been lucky enough to experience something like this, pay it forward. Ensure that when you’ve reached a position where you can extend a helping/guiding hand to someone, you do it, just as willingly as your own mentor did.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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