Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!
Yesterday I recieved a question about mentors from Akhila Kolisetty.
In response to your question, Akhila, I contacted my two most prominent mentors for their take on the question. Below is their advice, followed by mine, so you can see what both mentors and those that are being mentored have to say about the process.
Aaron Strout, VP of Marketing at Powered, Inc.
As far as my mentors go, I met them thanks to dumb luck, or “quite serendipitously” as Aaron likes to put it. Back story of how I met Aaron here. He is one of my career mentors, and he’s heavy into the social media side of marketing, something that interests me greatly. He’s also the quickest to respond so when I have a question that is urgent, he’s my go-to guy. And Aaron is a great mentor in that he mentions me in his blog, and always pushes my work. And for that, I am forever grateful. He is the epitome of a give-and-take mentoring relationship.
Do you have any tips for how to approach a potential member, besides dragging them away from conversation at a party in order to do an interview? (that was my method when I met Aaron, and recently, it concerned me that I was rude in the way I approached him… his responses below)
You were not rude at all. Just assertive. And there’s a difference. Not everyone is cool with that approach but most smart, go getters will appreciate your “grab the bull by the horns” attitude.
As for other advice for someone proactively seeking a mentor (that doesn’t choose to do it at a SXSW Mashable party), I would get really familiar with their work by reading their blog, following their tweet stream, looking at their history on LinkedIn, etc. This would include starting to engage their potential mentor via commenting on their blog, engaging them in Twitter, etc. Once that has happened, reaching out to the mentor with some background of who you/they are along with a rationale of why you want them to mentor you would be helpful.
Penelope Trunk, Author of Brazen Careerist, Founder of BrazenCareerist.com
Penelope and I met at the PRSSA/PRSA National Conference in Detroit. Back story here. Penelope is my career mentor. She helped me create a resume that was spot-on for the jobs I was pursuing. She guided me to SXSW, which afforded me the connections to get hired in Chicago, before graduation.
She also has several posts about how to find and maintain a mentor, and her tips are what helped me understand what a mentor needs from the person they are mentoring. Below are links to some of those posts:
- How I got my current favorite mentor
- Get your next mentor by being slightly annoying
- How to ask for mentoring
Building on a list that Penelope was given, here are seven steps she was given, with my advice attached.
Step 1: Identify a potential mentor. Mentors can be any age, and at any place in their careers.For me, both of my mentors are 10+ years older than me, so they’re old enough to be peers but not quite old enough to be my parents. I like this age difference because they’re obviously 8-10 years into their career, and they know what they’re talking about.
Step 2: Have good questions. Keep it to what they’re here for. Penelope, for example, is one of my career mentors. I keep my questions to her about resumes, work and networking. I made the mistake of asking her about what to get a guy I was dating for Christmas, and she kindly got me back on track. She’s not a life-coach, she’s here to help me advance my career. She actually blogged about it.
Step 3: Don’t expect miracles. Mentors aren’t gods or deities. They can’t part the seas to the top of the corporate ladder for you. But they can connect you with people that are important for advancing your career, and they most certainly can recommend you. Being a person worth mentoring will help you get what you need from the relationship.
Step 4: Be a good listener. Enough said. You’re here for advice, don’t waste your mentors time by not listening to it. If you don’t agree with their approach, maybe you should find a mentor who you do agree with.
Step 5: Prove you’re serious. When Penelope told me to create my own experiences, I did. I created a campaign for Moffitt about how they should use Twitter as a part of their communication strategy. They implemented it recently. Reporting this back to Penelope shows that her advice is working, and also that I’m taking it to heart, reinforcing that our relationship is worth continuing, because I can execute the things she suggests. I’m not wasting her time.
Step 6: Always be on the lookout. One mentor is not enough. I have four, Aaron and Penelope included. Sarah is my “how to be a lady” mentor. She helps me with professional dress, how to carry myself, how to handle difficult situations with catty women, etc
Adam Keats is my mentor at Weber Shandwick. I imagine I’ll have a few more once I get up to Chicago, but Adam got my resume in the right hands. He also took me under his wing at SXSW and introduced me to the “Who’s Who” in social media and PR. I hope to be a part of his team at Weber after I’ve completed my internship.
Step 7: Give back. Being a mentor is a great way to figure out how to be worth mentoring. You’ll find out what is annoying about people that want to be mentored, and you can shape your behavior accordingly. For me, a quick follow-up is essential. I spoke at a panel yesterday at USF for freshman and sophomores in the PR program and two students came up to me after class. One said she wanted to “pick my brain”, which, by the way, is my favorite way to approach a potential-mentor.
Are you a mentor? Are you looking for one? What has worked for you in finding a mentor? What is your best advice to those looking to find one?
Thank you Aaron, Penelope, Sarah and Adam for your insights and for leading me to greatness. Your mentoring efforts do not go un-noticed and I truly appreciate the relationship I have with each of you.