I kept to myself, worked overtime and let my work speak for itself. I never made any attempt to get close to my managers. That would be considered "kissing up," right? In short, I never allowed myself to be mentored. I won awards and helped my stations thrive, but the fact is that I certainly could have used a mentor. My father died when I was in college, so I never really had that strong male influence, especially when it came to business.
We can all use a little help, not only in our careers, but in our lives and it's funny that people, especially business superiors, want to help. Most bosses I've had and met actually love mentoring younger, less experienced employees.
"It's not what you know, but who you know." Isn't that the phrase we all know? Well, the truth lies in both parts of the sentence. If you are an untalented idiot, you might bluff your way into some jobs, but ultimately will hit your ceiling.
But if you're qualified and have integrity, gravitating toward like-minded executives, whether or not you work for them, it certainly couldn't hurt. Being liked and believed-in by a great manager can make your career.
What happens, though, if the person who has taken an interest in you as a protege, has ethics that are (how do we say it?) questionable?
 | |
| Who's your mentor now? |
When a great producer of mine asked nicely that he not make fun of where she went to college, he punished her by never talking to her again and tried to get her to quit (which she did, to my unhappiness). Sound stupid? Get the picture? Every bit of success at the station rotated around him.
Unfortunately, this guy really liked me, gave me guidance and pushed me to do things I never thought I could. He also paid me a lot of money.
What do you do when your mentor is a stinker?
Slowly, I took on his traits and was becoming everything I hate in a manager--unreasonable, inflexible and hard to deal with. Prior to meeting this boss, I had worked mostly for ex-sales people who had no understanding or tolerance for creatives. You know the kind--every pitch on every idea is met with the kind of look when a dog cocks its head when it hears something it doesn't understand. "You want to do whaaat?"
Don't get me wrong, I've had a great career and worked with and for some great broadcasters, but
your mentor should be one who is in lock step with your career--one who will not only inspire you but move you up as he or she moves up.
Unfortunately, I took these hard-charging characteristics with me to a few stations where it was not part of their culture, and I had to adapt.
Here's a great article on 10 Tips for getting the most from your mentor.
So, make sure you hitch a wagon to a superstar who will let your true light shine. Hopefully, your mentor won't be someone who is reviled and causes you to develop a management style you end up regretting. Just use your best judgment to keep their best traits and discard the worst. Be yourself...only better.
You can't do it alone, but hopefully you'll have fun learning and growing under the tutelage of someone who will help you blossom and bloom and help you become the success you were meant to be.
If your mentor turns out to be a stinker, move on to another. There are plenty of good mentors in the sea.
--Rich Brase
rich@richideas.net
|
Subscribe below for e-mail updates |
Follow us! 
|
Dear Rich,
ReplyDelete100% echo on your thoughts.
Flashing back, I had ever met any single bad boss, I think. There are always a thing or two that I learnt from them. One experience that however I will always remember, happened when I moved to a MNC. With my experience, I quickly excel in my work, and exceed my mentor's expectation and she's about to rank me at top 30%, but was turned down by the manager. I will never forget that afternoon, that with three of us in the manager's room, he commented, "we never rank a new comer for the top 30%".
Often, we learn from good things, but sometimes we learn from bad experience as well. This I will always keep in mind; Do not under-estimate any potential employee.
You are so right, Choo. The key thing is to be yourself and adopt the mentor's great traits and discard the worst. This is just common sense, but I found myself being groomed in this man's wake, and when he went down, I was seen as one of his guys. If you can have multiple mentors, that would be great, too. There are so many good and generous ones out there.
DeleteI take some exception to your comments. A mentor must be someone you trust first. They don't need to be a hero or even someone who you admire for their successes. But you need to have a serious level of trust that they will say what they know is true and will tell you when your actions are questionable. What do you do when your mentor is a stinker? I suggest you find another if the "stinker" has a serious character defect in the area of trust and personal relationships. By the way I have been with SCORE for 10 years and have mentored dozens and dozens and try to build both trust and success in my clients. www.svscore.org
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some good points, Bob. I think I messed up by hitching my wagon to the wrong star and recognizing the problem too late. No matter what, I think it's important to find someone to guide you with integrity and strength. You right that I should have paid more attention to whom I was emulating. The onus was on me, not him. FYI, I have also been mentored by SCORE and it is a wonderful organization. Good one!
ReplyDelete