Mentoring - MAC003

Whether official policy or not, in many companies in order to be promoted, you have to have already begun doing the work of the next level.  When that next level is a position of leadership, it isn't always easy to have that work line up with your daily duties but mentoring is a one way you can exhibit those leadership skills.

Some mentoring relationships are focused on expertise; what you know about the job.  In these instances, focus on less experienced team members or people outside of your group who are new to the field.  You will be sharing your expertise to help them grow their skills and become capable of more advanced tasks  As you help them learn and grow, concentrate on answering WHAT to do and not HOW to do it.  This gives them more opportunity to figure things out and not just become reliant on you providing the answers.  Your goal isn't to take on their work but to get them to a point where they are capable of being more independent in their duties and eventually taking on higher level work.  Only when they are struggling, would you then give them the specific answer instead of guiding them to the answer.

Another technique that can be used in this expertise based mentoring is being a sounding board.  When your mentee encounters a problem, have them explain the problem and multiple potential solutions and explain why each one is a good choice or a bad choice.  Along the way, challenge their assumptions, point them to educational resources, and push them to think more critically.  Ultimately, they will learn to be more self-sufficient.

For you, The benefit of this type of mentoring is that your peers will trust you more; not just the person you're mentoring, but other teammates, too.  Your teammates will realize that explaining things to your mentee implies that you have a thorough understanding of it, leading them to respect your expertise.  They'll also see you as someone who is a team player who is interested in the betterment of the team and not just looking out for themselves.  An additional benefit is that your manager will recognize you as a leader and an expert.

Another type of mentoring relationship is one focused on experience in the job, particularly your experience within the company or industry.  This involves helping someone develop soft-skills and build relationships that can help them do their job better.  This type of mentoring should focus on peers who are new to the company or new to the field.  In these instances, look for opportunities to explain the nuances of processes that may be unfamiliar to your mentee.  At a high level, most processes are similar from one company to another, but there are always distinctions such as which group owns a particular step or the order that steps are performed.  Introducing your mentee to key players  in the process and explaining how to best interact with them allows your mentee to borrow some of your status in order to complete those processes more efficiently.

Another activity you might engage in with experience based mentoring is helping someone understand what it takes to advance in the job or the company.  You can do this by sharing anecdotes and introducing them to decision makers.  Additionally, you can share what actions are valued by the leaders or the organization which can lead your mentee to faster advancement.

Regardless of what type of mentoring you engage in, use it as an opportunity to learn from your mentee as well.  The questions they ask may help you revisit complexities of your job with fresh eyes.  Maybe that can lead to opportunities to optimize a process.  Experience based mentoring could give you a taste of some of the responsibilities of being a manager.  Take the opportunity to expand your network through your mentees.  Or maybe just get a positive feeling knowing that you helped someone else.  Mentoring doesn't have to be a one-way relationship and there are many ways that you can benefit.

There is a lot more to mentoring and this just touches the surface.  If you'd like to discuss it further go to ManagingACareer.com and access the Community.

Are you looking for a career coach? If you reach out to me via the contact form, I will arrange an introductory session where we can talk about your career goals and how I can help. If we're a good fit, we can schedule regular coaching sessions.