1 00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:09,950 [Upbeat music] 2 00:00:38,540 --> 00:00:41,810 so what I'll first say is, um, 3 00:00:41,820 --> 00:00:44,360 mentoring is really just a conversation , 4 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,440 it's a communication . So if you're 5 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,496 someone who doesn't feel comfortable 6 00:00:49,496 --> 00:00:52,490 having , you know, like you said, the go 7 00:00:52,490 --> 00:00:54,880 getter , I'm not an extrovert , um, it 8 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,047 is hard for me to go up to someone and 9 00:00:57,047 --> 00:00:59,213 and just strike up a conversation . Um, 10 00:00:59,213 --> 00:01:01,390 So what I would recommend is look 11 00:01:01,390 --> 00:01:03,770 around maybe your workplace or 12 00:01:03,770 --> 00:01:06,130 something close to you and say okay , 13 00:01:06,130 --> 00:01:08,220 here's someone I'd be interested in 14 00:01:08,220 --> 00:01:11,120 learning from, and just strike up a 15 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,400 conversation one day , you know , 16 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,430 perhaps you see in the hallway. Hey sir, 17 00:01:16,430 --> 00:01:20,010 ma'am , um I see you're doing X . 18 00:01:20,020 --> 00:01:21,964 Would you be willing to talk to me 19 00:01:21,964 --> 00:01:24,080 about that sometime or just a quick 20 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,120 question to start a conversation. It 21 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,176 does , you don't have to jump into , 22 00:01:29,176 --> 00:01:31,410 Will you be my mentor , ask a few 23 00:01:31,410 --> 00:01:34,580 questions , Start, build a relationship 24 00:01:34,590 --> 00:01:36,490 and then once you have a few 25 00:01:36,500 --> 00:01:38,810 conversations, then you might feel more 26 00:01:38,810 --> 00:01:41,020 comfortable to say , would you mind 27 00:01:41,020 --> 00:01:43,600 spending 30 minutes with me ? I have a 28 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,410 question about this and this. Sometimes 29 00:01:46,410 --> 00:01:50,300 we think mentoring is this big , big 30 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:52,300 thing where I have to schedule this 31 00:01:52,300 --> 00:01:54,770 time and we have to do mentoring . It's 32 00:01:54,770 --> 00:01:57,470 really a conversation about you having 33 00:01:57,470 --> 00:01:59,980 questions that you have answered and 34 00:01:59,980 --> 00:02:02,202 getting feedback from someone about how 35 00:02:02,202 --> 00:02:04,290 you might , you know , increase your 36 00:02:04,290 --> 00:02:06,980 skills or some jobs out there that, that, 37 00:02:06,980 --> 00:02:10,070 you might want to look at to continue 38 00:02:10,070 --> 00:02:12,910 your career . So I would say take it in 39 00:02:12,910 --> 00:02:15,760 little chunks , have a conversation at 40 00:02:15,770 --> 00:02:19,040 first, one question here , one question 41 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,780 there, and then kind of build that 42 00:02:21,780 --> 00:02:24,850 relationship first and if somebody , if 43 00:02:24,850 --> 00:02:26,850 you do build a relationship and you 44 00:02:26,850 --> 00:02:28,572 kind of broach that subject of 45 00:02:28,572 --> 00:02:30,840 mentoring and someone says to you well 46 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,110 I can't do that or I don't do that or 47 00:02:34,110 --> 00:02:36,332 whatever . First of all , it's hard not 48 00:02:36,332 --> 00:02:38,388 to take that personally , but I will 49 00:02:38,388 --> 00:02:41,200 tell you don't take it personally and 50 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,860 there are a lot of reasons in my, in my 51 00:02:43,860 --> 00:02:46,650 case right now , there are , as I 52 00:02:46,650 --> 00:02:48,817 mentioned , our developmental team has 53 00:02:48,817 --> 00:02:51,560 people that they've assigned mentors to . 54 00:02:51,860 --> 00:02:53,860 If someone who's not assigned to me 55 00:02:53,860 --> 00:02:56,490 comes to me for mentoring , I'm happy 56 00:02:56,490 --> 00:02:58,550 to have a conversation , but I don't 57 00:02:58,550 --> 00:03:01,480 want to do something that I think 58 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,860 somebody else is doing , maybe I'm 59 00:03:03,860 --> 00:03:07,160 giving them different advice , so I 60 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,040 try to say okay , you know , I think 61 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,096 you should go here because this is a 62 00:03:12,096 --> 00:03:14,420 better fit for you, um, so that could be 63 00:03:14,420 --> 00:03:16,642 it . Maybe they're not the right fit or 64 00:03:16,642 --> 00:03:18,809 they don't feel like they're the right 65 00:03:18,809 --> 00:03:21,031 fit. Um, perhaps they just don't have the 66 00:03:21,031 --> 00:03:23,253 time and they don't want to shortchange 67 00:03:23,253 --> 00:03:26,250 you and sometimes people don't realize 68 00:03:26,250 --> 00:03:29,050 how they come across , so I would tell 69 00:03:29,050 --> 00:03:31,480 you if you do venture out and ask 70 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,250 someone for more...to be a mentor , 71 00:03:35,260 --> 00:03:37,427 don't take it personally if they don't 72 00:03:37,427 --> 00:03:40,270 support you in that and lastly 73 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,030 they might not be the right fit and 74 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,640 it's good that you know at that point 75 00:03:46,650 --> 00:03:48,880 rather than you have a couple 76 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:50,547 conversations and they're not 77 00:03:50,547 --> 00:03:53,870 fulfilling. So, um yeah, don't take it 78 00:03:53,870 --> 00:03:56,230 personally , but it is so hard not to , 79 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,462 but again , mentoring is a conversation 80 00:03:58,462 --> 00:04:00,462 and the more conversations you have 81 00:04:00,462 --> 00:04:02,462 with people about the things you're 82 00:04:02,462 --> 00:04:04,351 interested in , the more feedback 83 00:04:04,351 --> 00:04:05,351 you're gonna 84 00:04:05,351 --> 00:04:09,950 get . 85 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:20,270 [Upbeat music] 86 00:04:20,430 --> 00:04:22,597 So, there's two , there's two ways to have 87 00:04:22,597 --> 00:04:24,541 a mentor , There's a formal , more 88 00:04:24,541 --> 00:04:26,541 traditional , my chain of command , 89 00:04:26,541 --> 00:04:28,708 those kinds of things and there's more 90 00:04:28,708 --> 00:04:30,874 the informal people that you might see 91 00:04:30,874 --> 00:04:33,390 on social media or people that you 92 00:04:33,390 --> 00:04:35,660 might kind of come across in other 93 00:04:35,660 --> 00:04:38,230 avenues . Um you can learn from those 94 00:04:38,230 --> 00:04:40,397 people just as easily as you can learn 95 00:04:40,397 --> 00:04:42,452 from the more traditional , but I'll 96 00:04:42,452 --> 00:04:44,619 talk about the formal piece . Um, first 97 00:04:44,619 --> 00:04:46,786 I will look at your chain of command , 98 00:04:46,786 --> 00:04:48,786 your supervisor. Supervisors are a 99 00:04:48,786 --> 00:04:51,260 great resource as mentors . I would 100 00:04:51,260 --> 00:04:53,800 also think about previous supervisors 101 00:04:53,810 --> 00:04:55,921 that you may have worked for that you 102 00:04:55,921 --> 00:04:57,921 connected with . Maybe they've gone 103 00:04:57,921 --> 00:05:00,143 into some jobs that you're like , wow , 104 00:05:00,143 --> 00:05:02,032 that's an interesting job , I hadn't 105 00:05:02,032 --> 00:05:04,199 thought about that connect with them . 106 00:05:04,199 --> 00:05:06,254 Um so those are two routes that just 107 00:05:06,254 --> 00:05:08,480 jump out very quickly . There's also 108 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,760 mentors you can use who are retired , 109 00:05:11,130 --> 00:05:13,130 maybe you work for someone that's , 110 00:05:13,130 --> 00:05:15,241 that's recently retired , you want to 111 00:05:15,241 --> 00:05:17,297 stay in touch with them um and learn 112 00:05:17,297 --> 00:05:19,352 about how they did things . So those 113 00:05:19,352 --> 00:05:21,408 are three, three things that I would recommend 114 00:05:21,408 --> 00:05:23,519 right off the bat um and also talk to 115 00:05:23,519 --> 00:05:25,741 your developmental team um for those of 116 00:05:25,741 --> 00:05:27,741 you who are part of a developmental 117 00:05:27,741 --> 00:05:30,120 team. On the informal side , you know , 118 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,176 there there are things like LinkedIn 119 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,184 where you can be , couldn't get on 120 00:05:34,184 --> 00:05:36,073 social media , you can just watch 121 00:05:36,073 --> 00:05:38,270 people around your workplace and watch 122 00:05:38,270 --> 00:05:40,630 how they do things. Read people's bios 123 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,696 and just have a general conversation 124 00:05:42,696 --> 00:05:44,890 with someone in your workplace . Maybe 125 00:05:44,890 --> 00:05:47,112 they're doing something interesting and 126 00:05:47,112 --> 00:05:49,279 you can talk to them and say , hey , I 127 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,334 didn't know that you knew how to use 128 00:05:51,334 --> 00:05:53,001 this nice camera and do these 129 00:05:53,001 --> 00:05:55,112 interviews . I'm really interested in 130 00:05:55,112 --> 00:05:58,230 that. People like to talk about what 131 00:05:58,230 --> 00:06:00,730 they do um and they're more than happy 132 00:06:00,730 --> 00:06:03,060 to share that information with . So I 133 00:06:03,060 --> 00:06:05,060 would say there's a rainbow there , 134 00:06:05,060 --> 00:06:07,282 pick the things that you're comfortable with. 135 00:06:07,282 --> 00:06:20,060 [Upbeat music} 136 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,700 I want to say that, don't have just one 137 00:06:23,700 --> 00:06:26,500 mentor and don't think of it as only a 138 00:06:26,500 --> 00:06:30,120 mentor . Think of it as a 139 00:06:30,130 --> 00:06:33,420 range of people you can talk to, to help 140 00:06:33,420 --> 00:06:35,587 you figure out where you want to go in 141 00:06:35,587 --> 00:06:37,730 your career , understand what's out 142 00:06:37,740 --> 00:06:39,910 there , understand what skills you 143 00:06:39,910 --> 00:06:43,400 should be learning . Um and these are 144 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:45,344 people that can then talk to other 145 00:06:45,344 --> 00:06:47,780 people about you . I always like it 146 00:06:47,780 --> 00:06:49,947 when someone comes to me and and we're 147 00:06:49,947 --> 00:06:52,169 just having a conversation which I like 148 00:06:52,169 --> 00:06:54,260 to talk . Um and I'll find out some 149 00:06:54,270 --> 00:06:57,370 interesting tidbit about them . Well , 150 00:06:57,380 --> 00:06:59,324 you know , I may go to a meeting a 151 00:06:59,324 --> 00:07:01,380 month later and someone says , hey , 152 00:07:01,380 --> 00:07:03,436 you know , I'm looking for a graphic 153 00:07:03,436 --> 00:07:05,658 designer to do infographics and I'll be 154 00:07:05,658 --> 00:07:09,340 like , oh, have you thought of so and so? 155 00:07:09,700 --> 00:07:12,960 So, think of those conversations 156 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,890 across many different people , not just 157 00:07:15,890 --> 00:07:18,490 one , it's not just a one, "I have one 158 00:07:18,490 --> 00:07:20,490 mentor." Have a lot of people you can 159 00:07:20,490 --> 00:07:22,601 talk to . So that's one thing I would 160 00:07:22,601 --> 00:07:24,546 recommend . And the second thing I 161 00:07:24,546 --> 00:07:26,510 wanna harp on that I mentioned 162 00:07:26,510 --> 00:07:28,840 earlier, is that if you are thinking 163 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,280 about getting a mentor or you have a 164 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,500 mentor , I want you to have at least 165 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:37,550 one mentee for every mentor you have . 166 00:07:38,140 --> 00:07:40,330 So we need to be thinking not only 167 00:07:40,330 --> 00:07:43,560 about how can we get advice from other 168 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,200 people , but how can we help younger 169 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,850 folks , less experienced folks, maybe 170 00:07:48,850 --> 00:07:51,680 people who are shy that don't want to , 171 00:07:51,690 --> 00:07:53,801 you know , kind of put themselves out 172 00:07:53,801 --> 00:07:55,801 there . How can we be helping those 173 00:07:55,801 --> 00:07:58,380 people ? So think about looking for a 174 00:07:58,380 --> 00:08:00,491 mentor , but also think about who are 175 00:08:00,491 --> 00:08:02,850 you mentoring and how are you doing it 176 00:08:02,860 --> 00:08:04,971 and who are the people you can help ? 177 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,151 So those are a couple of thoughts I'd 178 00:08:07,151 --> 00:08:08,151 like to leave you with. 179 00:08:08,151 --> 00:08:44,150 [upbeat music]