Ode to a Jedi Master – Who is your mentor?
PMP Training Course $99 dollars
Orange Belt – Microsoft Project $850 dollars
Advanced Project Management in Primavera P6 $1,200.00 dollars
Advanced Earned Value Management Techniques $1,800.00 dollars
Having a mentor?
PRICELESS
project management mentor - by fuzzcat via Flickr
I learned more in two year under my mentor, Carl, than I did in the four years of college. Fortunately a major change occurred in my work place, which opened a huge opportunity that allowed me to work more directly with Carl. Right away he took me as his Padawan and started to challenge my abilities. He gave me his vision and set the standards high. This was my first big project of significant size and was a green project controller. He gave me the tools I needed to be successful and share his program management experiences.
Carl taught me many important lessons such as the importance of watching body language. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. He also showed me how to think at a micro-level, but then to present information to executives at a macro-level. Last but not least, the power of a high five after
nailing a planning drill translates into the power of having fun at work. He showed me that leadership can make all the difference in an ever changing program environment, because he led by example. Often he was the first one in the office and the last one to shut the lights off at night. Carl is sincere when he speaks, deliberate when analyzing any given situations, and most importantly he is a consistent leader.
Thank you Carl.
Do you have a mentor that changed your career or taught you valuable lessons? Recognize those who make a difference by sharing your mentor stories. Leave a comment!
Jun 16th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Thanks so much for writing this Travis!
It is great for us to stand back and reflect on how lucky we are to have such great people in our lives to guide us.
I wrote this post over 2 1/2 years ago now thanking several people…I need to do an update! (Coming soon!)
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Jun 16th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
And here are some of the people I’ve learned a great deal from that I would like to acknowledge. I’ve had conversations with these excellent people in person, via phone, via email, or via other avenues like blog comments, etc. and they have had a profound impact on my thinking:
Glen Alleman
Bill Duncan
Dr. Paul D. Giammalvo
Cornelius Fitchner
Kimberly Wiefling
Bas De Baar
Elizabeth Harrin
Craig Brown
Thomas Cutting
Andrew Meyer
Ron Holohan
Ron Rosenhead
Hal Macomber
Raven Young
Dave Garrett
There are probably many more that I owe a lot to….there are just so many awesome people out there I can’t keep them all in my brain!
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Jun 17th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Hey
That’s a nice thing to say
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Jun 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Travis, Josh and others — I would love to hear your thoughts on how best to find a mentor and how to approach them about being a mentor? I’ve had great managers in the past who I was able to learn a great deal from and gained a great relationship with but I figure a mentor would be a bit different than a good relationship with a manager.
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Joseph, my recommendation is to go ask what you can do for someone you want to learn from. On your own time.
Coming out and asking “Do you want to mentor me?” would be a red flag for most people…they’d be thinking “Oh geez, I don’t have time for this… I’m busy enough as it is.” You need to be giving as much as you are taking, preferably much more in the beginning.
You could ask them for some examples of documentation and other things they’ve done in the past. Whatever it is, make sure it’s no inconvenience to them, and even a benefit because you are taking some of the grunt work away from them (even if it has nothing to do with what you want to learn).
When you do ask questions, be smart about it. “When you did x, that turned out really well! How did you know to do it that way?” – people like telling their war stories to those who are interested!
Eventually, it is likely they will be impressed by your passion and flattered that you are looking up to them. You need to let them dictate when they are willing to take a more proactive role and mentor you.
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Jun 18th, 2009 at 6:17 am
In my experience, many organizations make a distinction between a mentor and a coach. Take a look here for a simple comparison:
http://www.coachingandmentoring.com/Articles/mentoring.html
Either or both can be priceless.
Duncan
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Jun 23rd, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Nice post, Travis. You are lucky to have a mentor like Carl.
I wrote a post on my site some time back called “The Art of Feedbacks” (URL: http://lap31.com/flyer/the-art-of-feedbacks/) in which I have classifiedd mentors as the Type-D of feedback-givers. I really think that mentors play an important role in our lives – professional and personal.
My org recently released our new mentorship program and I was surprised to see that I was not assigned a mentor, probably becuase they didnt think I need one. I disagree and so I asked my reporting manager about it and he assigned himself my mentor. Now it is a strange and funny situation when I have to specify in my communication with him that I am talking to him as a mentor and not as my boss. I am not sure if he can in all fairness to mentoring me switch both hats when I ask him to. I do hope so for my benefit. However, this is not optimal mentoring. For those those seeking a mentor professionally, here is my advice: Your mentor and reporting manager should not be the same person if you want to really make it work for you. Good luck!
Final note – pls do read my “The Art of Feedbacks” post and comment. Eager to know what you all have to say.
-Raj
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