How To Find And Work With A Mentor

Fortunately, I've benefited from having great mentors throughout my career. And I've have the honor and good fortune to be a mentor, both formally and informally, for various individuals the past few decades.

Mentoring is powerful. Both being a mentor. And being mentored. That's why I became an instant fan of the book, One Minute Mentoring: How to Find and Work With a Mentor -- and Why You'll Benefit from Being One.

The book presents a fictional parable about the power of finding, or being, a mentor. In what is about a one- to two-hour read, you'll gain knowledge and easy-to-use tools for how to find and leverage mentoring relationships.

Ken Blanchard

You'll also learn why developing effective communication and relationships across generations through mentoring can be a tremendous opportunity for companies and individuals alike.

Bestselling author, Ken Blanchard, Ph.D. teamed up with Claire Diaz-Ortiz to write One Minute Mentoring. Blanchard coauthored the legendary, The One Minute Manager. Diaz-Ortiz is one of the first employees of Twitter, is an author, speaker, and businesswoman.

Claire Diaz-Oritiz

"Many people avoid mentoring because they think it takes a lot of time," says Blanchard. "It doesn't have to. Some of the best advice I ever received came from tidbits during casual conversations with my mentors," he adds.

Mentoring tips from the authors include:

Successful mentoring starts with a powerful mission statement. What do you hope to achieve with your partnership? Articulate your mission in a simple statement you can really call upon.
While mission statements focus on the mentee, both mentor and mentee will give and receive in the relationship. The mission statement should reflect this.
Keep a journal of your mentoring journey so that you can track your goals and progress.

Also, Blanchard stresses that there is a difference between mentoring and coaching:

Coaching is focused on short-term, task-related issues. Mentoring focuses on big-picture, long-term goals.

Further, mentoring often goes beyond coaching in that mentors serve as:

Brokers by making introductions to powerful, influential and otherwise useful individuals in the industry or organization.
Advocates for a mentee's work assignments or career development, to the help the mentee's growth and development

Finally, keep in mind that a mentor for one phase of your life may not be the person you need at another point.

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