“…on mentoring” november 2004 presented to the wichita section of the society of women...

“…On Mentoring”

November 2004

Presented to the Wichita section of the Society of Women EngineersJan Eaton, Executive CoachMember of the Boeing Leadership Development Group

Agenda

To mentor or not to mentor, that is the question?

How to choose a mentor; eeny, meany, miney, MO!

Welcome to Mentoring 101

To Mentor or not to Mentor…

Every winning horse has a great trainer who thinks about tomorrow’s challenges while the horse is winning races today. Winning horses spend a lot of time in training…their success is no accident.

Winning managers develop their organization’s talent too.

MAKING HORSES DRINK


People with mentors are twice as likely to stay. That’s why mentoring programs have doubled in numbers in recent years.

Companies are giving creative incentives to mentors, pairing mentors with new hires, and offering group mentoring and online mentoring to hasten development of skills

LOVE ‘EM OR LOSE ‘EM

To Mentor or not to Mentor

This presentation is NOT about structured mentoring programs.

It IS about YOU as a mentor and/or a protégé.


I was keenly aware that my company didn’t pay the highest wages for the job I do. At times it nagged at me. I would say to myself, “You know, you could get much more money for this job somewhere else.” One day, I decided to draw up a chart of the pluses and minuses of my job. I started to realize how many opportunities I had to learn.


My boss was really good at knowing when I was ready to go to the next level, and she always offered the next step of learning, even before I would think of it. I was able to get exposure to other divisions and serve on multifunctional task teams. My manager took time to talk with me about success and about how to do things better.


When I made my list, I realized how far I had come in a couple of years.

I decided to stay because I didn’t believe that all this would be easy to find in another company.


SO WHAT DOES A MENTOR DO?

MODEL Be aware of your own role modeling

ENCOURAGE Support your people in risk-taking

NURTURE Get to know your people’s unique skills and capabilities


TEACH ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY

Tell it like it is

Help them avoid those organizational minefields that are neverwritten about (POLITICS!)


A wonderful maxim buried deep in

management literature suggests that people are more likely to trust “copers” than

“masters.”

To Mentor or not to Mentor

MODELING: A world-class lecturer on effective parenting asked a group of 200 parents, many of whom were older, what they thought was the one way to definitely raise self-esteem in children. No one hit the jackpot.

The speaker said the ability of the parent to say “ I was wrong” had the greatest effect on the self-esteem of children.


How REAL can you be?

PRETTY REAL

Modeling as a mentoring behavior means watching for opportunities to show how you’ve coped, giving permission to others to do the same.


ENCOURAGEMENT:

Encouragement is in the eye of the beholder.

Just-in-Time Approach:

1. Recognize- Notice Something

2. Verbalize- Say Something

3. Mobilize- Do Something


Any of the three steps will encourage, but all three combined have power.

Recognize- Manager: “ Hmm, looks great I didn’t know you like this kind of stuff.” (Good)

Recognize and Verbalize- Manager: “This is really good. Is this something you’d like to do more of?” (Better)

Recognize, Verbalize, Mobilize- Manager: “If you like this kind of work, why not let Marc in Graphics know, and while you’re there, find out when he’s offering his next graphics course.” (Best)


NURTURING:

Nurturing on the run…

Countless employees who have left their corporations say that their managers never stopped long enough to understand them or support them in their development.


ALAS…From an interview with a senior level manager in a

high-tech company:Interviewer: Did you ever have a mentor?Manager: You bet. He was my manager. He really

cared about me. He’d stop in all the time, ask me some great questions, get me to think about what I was doing and why.

Interviewer: Do you do that for anyone?Manager: No, I would like to, but we don’t really have

time these days.


Mentoring takes time, but not a lot. Mainly, it takes a willingness to show another person you genuinely care.


TEACH ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY: ALAS…

She was technically brilliant. She graduated in the top 2 percent of her class in one of the top schools in the country. We offered opportunities for her to work with other brilliant colleagues, to sit on a variety of committees that made decisions on our future. We had great plans for her.

She was so quick that she started to rub people the wrong way. She ignored chain of command, and stepped on toes. No one gave her alternative ways to deal with people.

People avoided her. She became more and more isolated. And she became more and more unhappy. Before we knew enough to try to talk it out and give her some help. We lost her.


Employees need to know: Your point of view How to get and give resources What kinds of influence strategies work and don’t

work What Sr. leaders want and don’t want in their

reports, presentations, and meetings. AND they need to know before they walk into a

minefield.


Good mentoring topics: What have I learned about what counts in this

organization? How have my failures and successes grown me? What most surprised me about the culture? What was the most difficult culture shift for me to

make? What are the ways to really get into hot water here? How do people derail themselves? What do I know now that I wish I had known then?

To Mentor or not Mentor…

People have a hunger for FRANK conversation.

Most people claim they do not like to play politics. But it is a reality of corporate life.

A MENTOR educates and supports a protégé during good times and when stumbling.


Know one of the best ways to mentor?

Let your people mentor you…

“On Mentoring….”

How to choose a mentor; eeny, meany, miney, MO!…

How to choose a Mentor

FACT or FICTION?

Julia Roberts was discovered at the corner drugstore and catapulted into stardom.

Loretta Lynn was an instant success at the Grand Ole’ Opry’.

Jay Leno started his very successful career on the Tonight Show.

If I work hard and do a good job a powerful person will notice me and ask to be my mentor.


Step One…Self-Search

Ask yourself: Why do you want a mentor? What are you willing to invest in a mentoring

relationship? How real are your expectations?


Step Two…Draw a mental picture of your mentor

Is the mentor an executive, manager, peer? Does the mentor support your organization or

another? What specific skills does the mentor possess

that you admire? Do you need “A” mentor or multiple mentors?

“…On Mentoring”

Welcome to Mentoring 101

Mentoring 101

How do I ask a person to mentor me?

Don’t…ask to discuss some development issues with the person first.

WHY???

What if you decide this person is not a good fit for your mentor?

Mentoring 101

Who schedules the first session and how long should it be?

The protégé takes the action to schedule the first meeting. Request an hour but if not possible don’t go any shorter than 30 min.

Mentoring 101

What happens at the first session? Unless the meeting is carefully choreographed by

the protégé…not much. Mentoring sessions should not be left to open

discussion. The purpose of the session should be outlined in the

beginning Prepared questions are helpful The next session May or May NOT be discussed

Mentoring 101

As the mentoring relationship develops these become very important:

TRUST TIME DIALOGUE SHARING

Mentoring 101

Trust Takes time to accomplish What is discussed in the session stays in the

session Work to create the environment Honesty is the key

Mentoring 101

Time “Don’t call us, we’ll you syndrome. The

mentor must be available to the protégé. The protégé MUST be logical about the time

spent with the mentor Regularly scheduled sessions will help

Mentoring 101

Dialogue Conversations are richer when both

participate Mentors…Wait to advise until asked Protégé…Don’t become too dependent on

advice

Mentoring 101

Sharing Sharing is a two-way road Honesty, openness and caring are the

drivers Really learn to listen…without thinking of

your next response

Mentoring 101

When the mentoring relationship has reached its completion don’t be afraid to end it.

“…on mentoring” november 2004 presented to the wichita section of the society of women...

Documents

mentor eeny

mentor andor

em slide

horses drink slide

mentoring behavior

online mentoring

structured mentoring

winning horses