Question about mentoring- any help with the next steps please?

Submitted by Darren Youngs
in
Management and Leadership

 

Hi all,

I would appriciate any ideas regarding my progress in approaching a mentor. I am in a fortunate position to be managing a number of teams at an not for profit social welfare organisation in Australia. About 6 months ago I moved into a regional manager role, and I now oversee approximately 75 staff across 4 sites, with a number of family, community, counselling and disability programs.

As I am 27 years old, (26 when I moved into the role), the organisation is particularly keen to support me, and is willing to set-up and/or pay for mentoring. However it seems clear to me after listening to the basics of mentoring podcast, that it would be most effective if I were to approach someone that I know and have a relationship with.

I haven't developed my network well enough to know anyone that I would like to ask, however I also know that it has been sitting with me for many months and I am sure I would benefit from mentoring if I could just take the right steps to getting it started. I think one issue is that I am keen (if possible), to have mentor that is not directly in the same field, although I think this is limiting my options further. 

If you would share your thoughts on some possible next steps, I would be very grateful.  

Kind regards,
 
Darren

 

Submitted by Talinge Noxtort on Saturday January 22nd, 2011 6:44 pm

Congratulations on achieving so much at a relatively young age.
Do you go to professional meeitngs where you get to interact with others? It's a matter of exchanging business cards and meeting for lunch? What about associations?
Also, you could use LinkedIn groups to meet other people, though it is less ideal than having met them in person.

Submitted by Darren Youngs on Saturday January 22nd, 2011 7:52 pm

Thanks for your reply. 
I do have a number of meetings to interact with others, however they are almost exclusively within the social care field.
I think the other message for me is that I should keep working on extending my network, and approach someone at an appropriate time; rather than looking to others in the organisation to introduce me to someone they think may be a good match, even if this takes many more months.
I will pursue the LinkedIn option as well, and set up a profile.
Thanks.

Submitted by Mark Horstman on Saturday January 22nd, 2011 8:52 pm

Yes, it's possible mentoring might be a good developmental avenue for you.  I don't understand how in the world anyone expects to pay for mentoring - the very ideas are antipodal, in my mind.
If you want a mentor, I recommend you spend time developing your network, and that WILL take time.  If you don't feel you have a good one, wait a YEAR, which you fill with concerted effort building your network, to choose.  And, there's a chance then that you won't have found one.  
Then again, perhaps you should consider someone in your field for now, and then in 12-18 months consider someone new.
Finally, I think what your firm may be willing to spend money on is a COACH, and that's a different story.  There are coaches available, and you probably need to interview a few to decide which might be right.  Perhaps a board member would know someone.  And, perhaps you ought to still wait until you can get some references.
Mark

Submitted by Darren Youngs on Sunday January 23rd, 2011 2:03 am

Thanks for your response, it's really great that people like myself can get some advice so easily from experienced people willing to share their knowledge.
I will explore the coaching idea further as well, although it doesn't seem to be particularly utilised in my field of work, and I think its best that I fully implement all of the suggestions in the MT podcasts first, so that the coaching doesn't cover concepts that I am already learning about.
Thanks for your suggestions, and I look forward to being part of more questions and answers on the forums.

Submitted by Mads Singers S… on Saturday February 12th, 2011 2:48 pm

Hi Darran,
Just a small input from me, I dont know what sort of personal development you're currently working on, but I have had a lot of success with Toastermaster.org - mentioned a number of times here in the forum, Toastmasters is a place where you develop public speaking & leadership and management skills. I have found a lot of fantastic people including my last two mentors through Toastmasters, however you never know what type of people attend in your area - Anyways a good chance to build you network, develop your personal skills and other key management skills.
Have a nice weekend!
Kind Regards
Mads Sorensen
Disc 4536