I wanted to discuss one of the reasons I am sane at my job today. I have a great mentor.
I am realizing more how important it is to have someone you can relate to as a means of guidance. My mentor in most areas is literally the white version (no censorship on this blog) of what I aspire to be if I have to continue to work at corporate America for a while longer. Her and I think the same way and have a similar approach to reaching our goals at work and in life. She is also a Go Getter like many of us. For example I have been at this company for almost 5 months and have come up on my first mid year career discussion. Since I value my mentors opinion greatly I shared with her my approach and timeline for success at the company. Her immediate response was “Your timeline for promotion is too long. You need to shorten it.” My first thought was wow, I had heard that you need to be here for at least 2 years before even thinking about getting promoted. But when I thought about it more it made perfect sense. Why should I limit my potential just because it is status quo. That is not me! I then changed the time frame to 8 months (probably a little too bold but what the hell). That feedback gave me what I needed to push myself.
For those of you that do not know, my current job is not a good fit for my skill set, which is ok. There is something to be learned in every situation where God lands you. Having a mentor that I share similar goals with helped to give some guidance and constructive feedback when I have found myself not in the most ideal working situation. It is about getting that different perspective from someone you look up to and feel you can trust.
Having the right person to be connected with is all it takes sometimes to make success happen.
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I totally agree with your post. I am so fortunate to have great mentors all over the nation. I encourage you to network and really reach out people in and outside of your company. I've actually set up 2 mentorships for friends of mine. I'll keep you updated!
ReplyDeleteUntil I read your post, I didn't think I had a mentor but in this business of hospitality, there are not many ppl of color so finding a small group of friends with whom I could identify with has helped. We try to meet once per month and devote some time to talk about work. There is one person in the group who motivates me to stand up for myself and work my sales action plan. So yes, mentors are important, even if they don't fit the traditional role of who a mentor should be. Rock on girl! Cant wait for your next post. Auntie V
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