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One of the most important indicators of how well someone will do in their career is how strong their circle of mentors is. Those who have mentors are twice as likely to be promoted as those who don't, says Ellen Fagenson Eland, professor at George Mason University and winner of the Mentoring Best Practices Award. There are many types of mentors you need. If you're a minority, you should have a minority mentor. If you are a woman having a child, you should get a mentor who is managing work and kids the way you would like to. If you are a woman, you should have a man so that you learn how to manage yourself in boys club situations. You get the idea, right? You need a wide range of mentors, and you need different mentors at different times in your life.
So here are some ways to use your social-networking savvy to land the mentors you need right now:
1. Leverage your Brazen Careerist profile to impress people.
You can use Twitter to identify someone who would be a good mentor for you. But you need to get their attention right away with a link to something that gives a snapshot of why you are interesting. A blog is a lot to read, and a LinkedIn profile is not going to showcase your ideas. Your Brazen Careerist profile is exactly the type of information that a mentor wants to find out about you before they sign on. Also, one of the reasons that people mentor is to learn from the mentee. If you introduce your mentor to a place like Brazen Careerist you are helping the mentor to stay on top of their game as well.
2. Connect with other top contributors at Brazen Careerist.
Now that we have launched our Top Users page you can figure out who is making a major contribution to the network. These people will likely be leaders and people who are in the know, and these are great people to reach out to. At the beginning of your career, some of the strongest help you will receive is from people who are two or three years ahead of you. People who are ten or fifteen years older than you are can help with a lot of connections, but they often forget what it's like to be at the beginning of a career. Also, the people who have the most knowledge about where the plum jobs are for twentysomethings are usually the twentysomethings themselves. After all, the CEO of GE is not taking part in hiring for entry-level jobs, right?
3. Ask good questions.
The best way to stand out is to ask good questions. The Internet makes answers a commodity, and conversations-based networking makes good questions more valuable than ever. So focus on questions. Once you meet someone, ask questions that are right for them -- something they know a lot about that you are interested in -- and then show the person how you used their help to learn more on your own. Self learners are the best type of people to mentor because they end up teaching the mentor as much as they learn from the mentor. Social networks that focus on conversation position you as a good potential mentee.
Be brave. Almost anyone will help you if you approach them with smart, concise questions. And the more you ask these questions the more invested in you a person will feel. You can only get better at asking for help by doing it a lot. If someone ignores you, nothing's lost. Just move on to the next person. Getting mentoring is like getting a date. The more you try the better you get.
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Comments
05.12.10
The power of asking is an awesome thing! It does require you to be brave, but the pay off is worth it. I have recently begun reaching out to my connections and asking them for assistance when it comes to my career planning and path. I look forward to one day be able to "pay it forward".
05.12.10
I was just thinking how much I want to connect with the many followers I now have as a BC Top User- this sounds like a great way to do that!
05.12.10
I would also be good to recommend to connect with others at their own company. Great mentors within can help you navigate the corporate structure, politics and emerging areas of growth!
http://ReThinkHR.org
@BenjaminMcCall
05.12.10
Wow, I just wrote about the importance mentoring last week (http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2010/05/do-you-need-a-writing-mentor/). I think mentoring is so important.
05.12.10
I have been wanting to get a mentor for a while now. I am trying to figure out the best way to go about it. As a woman, I am not sure if I should try to follow in the footsteps of a standout go-getter female or not. You make an interesting point about finding a male to help you learn the "old boy's club." The age factor is an interesting one too. I will be able to relate to someone in their late 20s and they'll probably have more to offer me at this point in my life.
I also have been unsure about how to go about finding/approaching a mentor. Looks like joining the Brazen Career network is a good place to start!
Thanks for the post.
05.12.10
Nice. How about a post about finding mentors offline, like in your community? We don't always have to focus on the Brazen community. Mentors in your community can provide powerful and long lasting relationships if you're a regular worker or business person. Here's an example: my boss, who owns our startup, approached two former professors at Rollins College about getting business advice, based on their books and publications on technology. One is now a board member and the other is a trusted advisor. These are the types of mentors that business owners need.
05.12.10
That's a good idea. I do have a few such suggestions in my post (such as taking a class or joining a society). But, it could easily become a future topic...
05.12.10
To this I would add specialization. BC is a great place to start but it's not likely to interest adept and niche specialists. [I hang out here trying to figure just what is up with gen y because they're not making inroads in my industry but that is another story.]
I would also add humility. Gen Y reads "Self learners are the best type of people to mentor because they end up teaching the mentor as much as they learn from the mentor" so they approach a mentor with the expectation that they're carrying at least half the load and presenting an unparalleled opportunity to the mentor but it never is. If a young person is awesomely good (80% of gen y thinks they are), you never need to look for a mentor because they will find you. I keep my eye on a lot of people.
back to work...
05.12.10
Ah- thanks for this post. I just earned my master's degree in multimedia journalism, and I think finding a mentor a few years ahead of me in experience is a great way for me to learn and connect.
Who out there has been a mentor? Did you meet in person or only chat on the phone? And what made you decide to take on a mentee?
05.12.10
I've done and do a lot of mentoring. I can't always decide if I really enjoy it or am consumed with self-hatred. I kid, I kid.
What makes me decide...is pretty simple, I'll take nearly anyone. The decision on whether to take a client or protege is the same. To start, they must buy and read one very specific book on manufacturing. If they don't, I can't help them. The reason is, anything I have to say builds on that book. Otherwise, their expectation is that I should be reduced to summarizing the content for them ad hoc which means they don't respect my time or me so it's no kind of relationship. It won't go anywhere, they won't go anywhere. Or maybe they will but not soon and not inexpensively.
I will drop someone if they consistently fail to follow my advice. A problem with clients and proteges is that they want you to tell them how to make their way work but it is often impossible. If they go and do what they want anyway, it's going to cost a lot more money. With proteges, I resent that. I'm subsidizing their poor decisions. Them not paying me amounts to their having more money to blow on stupid things. Maybe if I charged them and they had less money to waste, they wouldn't have gotten so far in the hole.
The other reason I drop both clients and proteges if they consistently ignore my advice is because they make me look bad. I have a very good track record so if someone fails spectacularly and someone asks who worked with them and my name comes up, the other party will not know the context. I have very limited time (not that you could tell today) and many people who need my time. Why would I waste it on someone who doesn't listen? If I will drop someone who is paying me because they don't listen, a protege should expect nothing less.
PS. Most people approaching me for a mentoring relationship don't get to first base because they won't read the book. If they won't listen to the first thing I say, why would they listen to anything else? I'm just cutting my losses.
05.12.10
ブロガー辞めた！
05.12.10
Sweet tips. Got to add:
1. Never, never, never ask them to be your mentor. You won't see them for dust.
2. Show (not tell them) you like them by tweeting and commenting on their stuff.
3. Be super brief in emails.
4. Just ask one or two quick easy questions to begin with to build up a relationship slowly and naturally.
Good luck team Brazen:)
05.12.10
@Annabel- those are great tips. Priceless. Thanks!
05.12.10
Elizabeth - Glad you enjoyed them and hope you can put them to good use. Look forward to hearing where it leads you:)
05.13.10
@Lance Yeah, getting mentors in your community is important. But your career has much more power, stability, and flexibility if your network extends beyond your community. It used to be that this was nearly impossible to do. Social media makes it much easier. So to an older person, a national network is pretty impressive from a younger person. Most older people have only a local network.
05.13.10
@Annabel that is SUCH a good point. At least once a week someone emails me to ask me to be their mentor. The thing is that having a mentor is nothing but asking questions. So why waste time asking a question like Will you be my mentor? You get no value out of the answer. Just ask a real question. Almost anyone will answer a good question.
05.13.10
Thanks for starting and continuing this Penelope. So true, why stick to your local community when you can go global? It made me laugh because these days older people can have younger mentors because they don't understand social media as well as the younger ones. Which leaves lots of wonderful possibilities for skill exchanges between people who have different experience and skills in different areas:)
You've certainly inspired me in my current career path and I guess you're younger than me. If not, please share your beauty secrets some time...
05.13.10
While I agree with most of the points, I think the concept of adding value has not been adequately addressed.
Adding real value is the basis of forming meaningful relationships - which a mentor & protege should be striving for. After all, a mentor is someone who you disclose personal information and emotions to, and hope that they give you sound advise. That's a pretty weighty thing.
The biggest fallacy is that the mentor is the one imparting knowledge and wisdom, and the protege is supposed to soak it up like a sponge. The reality is that the protege should be trying to add as much value to the mentor as they receive. "Value" could be helping out with remedial tasks, sharing ideas, invoking thoughtful discussion, or any number of things. Be creative.
So sure, you can connect with someone via social media and bounce a few questions hoping that the person will respond. But is that a real relationship? I would say not. In order to build a true mentorship relationship both parties need to strive to add value.
05.27.10
@Penelope - "After all, the CEO of GE is not taking part in hiring for entry-level jobs, right?"
A tidbit for you - No, Jeffrey Immelt was in Clinton recently and gave the commencement address for the class of 2010 at Hamilton College.
A quote from the link below -
"Acknowledging that we are in economically difficult times, Immelt emphasized the need for creative and independent thinkers and the importance of maintaining a spirit of reality-based optimism."
Optimism - exactly. :)
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