To the Protege: A Word, Please
Mentors can be hard to come by. I conducted a survey of more than 500 people asking them to comment on their happiest and saddest mentoring experiences. The #1 mentioned sad story was the absence of a mentor. So I get it...the line of protégés is much longer than the line of ready mentors. Of course, this is why I have created this blog conversation, to ready more and more people when the mentorship invitation is offered. But what does an emerging leader do in the meantime?
Let me offer you one practical tip that can both get you the mentoring help you may need, and possibly awake a slumbering mentor within one of your peers, colleagues, or respected supervisors. I call it the “Mentoring Moment.” All of us have had the experience when we were busy and on our way to some important meeting or appointment, and then someone takes hold of our sleeve and asks this question, "You got a moment?" Well, in such times, you often don't have a moment. However, there's something about a person expressing their need, their appreciation of your insight or your technical knowledge, that makes us aware that the investment of the moment might be multiplied changing the game for the other person, or perhaps a team. We routinely make room for others who ask for incremental input. In the absence of mentors, I encourage emerging leaders to seek out mentoring moments. By reducing your question, your dilemma, your confusion to a single question and asking an experienced other if they have any insight, often that invitation is not met with apathy, but powerful nuggets of truth and competence. And the good news is, it often only costs each party a few minutes of their time. The benefits however are many for both the emerging leader and prospective mentor: The Emerging Leader:
has gained practical help in a moment of need.
has expressed courage and developed fine tuning for the critical skill of recruitment and enrollment necessary for team leadership.
has signaled appreciation of the other person's experience, wisdom, and competence.
The Prospective Mentor:
has been affirmed in some aspect of their competence or value to someone inside of their social circle.
has discovered helping others doesn't always require extended time blocks or a long-term commitment.
may begin to take note of the emerging leader as someone in whom he or she may want to continue to invest.
The next time someone asks, “May I have a word with you?” slow down, turn to them, and offer them your full attention, even for just a moment. Your response may turn an interruption into a “mentoring moment.” And that moment may change the world.
