“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” — Steven Spielberg
Mentorship provides an incredible opportunity to give back, sharing with someone else the experiences you’ve had, lessons you’ve learned, and outside perspectives you can bring to bear. And ultimately helping someone else remove obstacles and reach their fullest potential.
For the last several years, I’ve served in official and unofficial mentorship relationships with colleagues as well as others outside my firm whom I’ve met through informational interviews or conferences. For me, mentorship feels like a responsibility that I owe to the industry and community of communications professionals that have served me incredibly well for the last 20+ years.
But there may be some of you out there questioning what you get out of it, how to be effective, and whether you should take the time out of your busy schedules to serve as a mentor. Here are some of my observations.
Just do it.
The benefits far outweigh any challenges. Being a mentor provides professional fulfillment – it’s about giving back and helping the greater good of professionals advance. Think about it as investing in the next generation of leaders, which will ultimately serve you, your organization and the industry as a whole. As a mentor, you’re able to provide an unbiased and outside perspective for your mentee, providing a safe space to talk about what they’re struggling with and where they need to push themselves. The best mentorship relationships dig into the mentee’s challenges, helps them see what they’re not able to about a situation and drives them to do what they’re uncomfortable doing.
Mentorship provides continued learning opportunities for the mentor as well – ever heard of reverse mentorships? We all have things we are working to improve or learn, and a mentee’s often younger POV or experience can be of great benefit. Being a mentor also offers a chance to further build your own network – for your own career advancement or your company’s – it’s a great way to build a recruiting pipeline of talent.
Be committed and present.
Mentorship or relationship building doesn’t have to take a lot of time. You should set aside a couple blocks of time each month for mentorship/networking meetings, so they’re locked on the calendar – and try not to move them. It’s also important to clearly articulate to your mentee that you only have a set amount of time for your meetings, so they stick to your schedule. I also find it best to get out of an office setting for your mentor/mentee meetings – go meet for coffee, talk a walk around town, grab a glass of wine. Getting out of your work environment will help you focus on the session and be highly present for the discussion.
Make connections.
If you don’t feel like you add another mentee to your roster, I encourage you to think about who in your company or your external network would be a good fit for the person seeking a mentor. The world of communications is small. At some time or another, we either all have worked with each other, worked for each other, or know someone who’s worked with or for each other. It’s important we all continue to make connections and build our networks. By playing matchmaker, we are working in support of our collective mission of advancing women in the communications field.
Being a mentor has been incredibly rewarding to me. Witnessing the growth of another person on their career journey and seeing them achieve their goals and work through barriers, if in some small way in part because of my help, is inspiring.
About the Author
Michelle Maggs currently leads the Seattle office of Weber Shandwick, an integrated marketing communications firm, serving as executive vice president and general manager. Michelle says her career can be summed up through a handful of very important mentor relationships – all contributing to the path she’s taken. Michelle has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and communications, and is a member of AWC’s Seattle, Washington Chapter.
