Transcript

Hey, everybody, I hope this video finds you well.

Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about the value of mentorship. Not only being a mentor, but having a mentor and what that means to you professionally and personally.

And I’ll share my own experience.

About 30 years ago, I asked a co-worker in the office, actually, one of my bosses, if he wouldn’t mind mentoring me. And the rules were that we had to have a structured agenda, I had to keep topic items — a list of items, either situations that I was in, questions that I had concerns or issues that I was working through — I kept an active list, and once a month we would send each other an agenda, and when we sat down, we covered that agenda.

So it was somewhat structured, and we always had topics of conversation. Professionally I found that getting an opinion from someone who’s been there and done that — not saying I have to do things exactly the way this person did —

But having the ability to share an experience and talk with someone who’s lived through it is invaluable. Not only do you pick up tips and tricks, oftentimes time-saving advice, but you don’t have to live through the same you don’t have to have the same bumps and bruises, right?

That’s the advantage of having a mentor both professionally, because you can work through situations that maybe you’ve never been in or that you’ve handled once before and handled incorrectly, but also personally.

Just knowing that you have a support system in place, as I’m sure many of you do, both professionally and personally, having that support system in place and knowing there’s someone that’s, quote unquote, got your back. Incredibly beneficial.

Not only receiving that information, but giving it. And I have found often in my career that I learned quite a bit from teaching, and that mentorship is a teaching moment. So providing or having access or being accessible to other people just for advice, even if it’s not a formal process.

But having people turn to you for advice for things you’ve done in the past is incredibly rewarding because, you know, you’re helping someone get where they want to go.

So I’d welcome you, or I’d invite you to look at mentoring, either being one or having one.

Take care.