#People Post #8: Can I get a little help?

or who do you turn to when you need help that training or online resources can't provide?

Jul 23, 2019

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A couple of weeks ago, someone in the channel asked about mentorship programs at work, how to set one up, what they look like, benefits etc and it got me thinking about mentorship at work in general (mentorship, after some research, is a HUGE area to talk about, from mentoring ex-service personnel to settle back into civilian life, to mentoring kids or people with legal needs - it's a very broad topic. This email talks about professional business mentorship ... I think).

My favourite teacher from school was a guy called Mr Mak. He was my English teacher and also my form tutor. For the years I was in school, he was a constant source of encouragement, guidance and friendship. When my parents split up and I went through a rough teenage period, he was patience, calm and supportive. He taught me to love the English language, how to read books properly and just what it meant to be a genuine human. In retrospect, he was a mentor and one I often use as a measure against both myself and my peers.

As I've grown up (I think I've grown up, my wife might disagree), I've had a few other mentors. The longer I've been at work, the more obvious these people have become. My mentor right now is a guy called Mike. He's unconventional, sage and approachable, even though he's extremely busy. I met him in a previous job and he's been gracious enough to let me keep bothering him, even though we no longer work together. He's someone I can bounce ideas off, ask questions and just share a beer with so I can learn through osmosis. It's a valuable relationship and, as with all relationships, came about organically and needs nourishing (like a really useful plant?). The great thing about this relationship is I can be mentored (and, occasionally, mentor back) on more than just my professional life. Work and life is so entwined nowadays, it's hard to have a conversation about business without talking about how it affects you personally (and the other way around). This kind of conversation can only be had with someone whom you trust and trust is born and grows through this friendship/mentorship.

Other ways of seeking help is through "deliberate mentorship". Professional programs setup and run either by your own company, or other organisations who's sole focus is help you improve. You actively seek help from someone who is actively looking to help. These look super valuable in places and allow you to tap a wealth of experience that you won't get elsewhere.

For me though, part of mentorship is forging a relationship with your mentor, a level of trust and engagement that I don't think I could get through a more structured way of being mentored. A lot of mentorship is being encouraged by the success or failures of your mentor, having someone listen and offer advice if it's needed and not just a transactional relationship.

Here's the rub: can you manufacture a mentorship, or do you need to grow one organically and non-purposefully by accident? If you try and implement a mentorship program at work, are you manufacturing actual mentorships, or is it just another word for training people (by people who aren't trainers)? More like on-purpose-on-the-job training? I genuinely don't know the answer to this and so I'd like to know what you think? Do at work mentorship programs work, or are they simply training with a different name?

Mentoring on the web

Circular mentoring, could make you dizzy, definitely makes you better.

"In most cases, you can draw a straight line from where you are in your career to where they are in theirs, and count the ways they are helping you walk that path. But what if mentorship looked more like a circle than a straight line?" I love this idea, and it speaks to the more rounded type of mentorship I talked about above. - Mentorship is a circle, not a straight line.

I'm happier at work because I have a mentor, reason enough to get one?

"More than 9 in 10 workers (91%) who have a mentor are satisfied with their jobs, including more than half (57%) who are 'very satisfied.' Among those who don’t have a mentor, each of those numbers drop by double digits." Nine in 10 workers who have a career mentor say they are happy in their jobs

Can't find someone senior enough to be a mentor? Turn to your peers

"In peer co-mentoring, two to eight people meet regularly in-person or virtually ... to listen, ask questions, and offer advice. Usually, the focus is on a problem a person is facing but sometimes, especially after a relationship among the members has developed, it might simply be to report on something good, bad, or just interesting that’s happened or is upcoming." - Peer Co-Mentoring

From the channel

Dante Pannell said “… one of my coworkers just wrote one of my company's (Woden) best blogs. In it she speaks to the instant gratification consumers want but the emotional attachment to a purpose they need to become evangelists. https://www.wodenworks.com/suffering-from-premature-gratification/
The Ultimate Candidate Interview & Employee Onboarding Checklist https://get.talentlyft.com/en/resources/candidate-interview-employee-onboarding-checklist get.talentlyft.com
How to Successfully Recruit In-Demand Tech Talent on July 24th, 10am PST. You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/2YWsAFX

End #post

Number 8 done. Sorry it’s a day late, I was at a conference (about AI!) and didn’t have the time to finish up. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this one. Let me know what you think!

If there’s something in particular you’d like to see in here, then let me know. I enjoyed putting together this issue, so any other topic you’d benefit from hearing about would be great.

In the mean time, tell your friends about the email and the slack channel: http://hashtagpeople.co.uk/ .