find a mentor

My general manager approached me at work and advised me she was going to mentor me at work. We get on well and after chatting we have a lot in common. I can see she has a vast amount of experience in the wedding industry and I think I will learn a lot by listening and observing. Clearly she could run her own business if she wanted to, which is my long term goal, so as they say listen and learn from the master and ye shall reap the rewards.

I really need to find someone to talk to about how to leverage my knowledge, interests and strengths in order to move into a career where I am empowering my job as much as it empowers me.

How does one go about finding a mentor? Do you tell the person, or just keep a close distance and work on building a relationship?

I have been looking for someone that I can really openly share my goals and successes and really have them care and help lead me down the right paths. Usually what I end up doing is listening to the other person tell me about their dreams and helping solve their problems. I don’t mind doing this as long as I feel there is reciprocation. I have thought about some people that I would really like to mentor me, but they are all so busy.

G. started out as a colleague, and has now become a firm friend. We’re not working together anymore, but he has helped enormously over the past couple of years – not just providing moral support when I was working my bottom off and going through tough times, but also helping me to become wiser in the working world. He encourages me to believe in myself no matter what. He thinks I’m fab and has a lot of contacts, and has already helped me line up some work. I feel like I can turn to him whenever I need advice, so I think I can say I’ve found a mentor. Many people have given me encouragement during my job search but he stands out as a real guide and friend.

find someone who doesn’t mind sharing their succeess experience and offer insight and advice!

i had a teacher, nur 201. . . the complete opposite of this. her goal was to weed you out as a weak student. I was not a weak student. I practiced my skills until they were perfected, which i guess is not what she wanted, and i knew all the answers, also not what she wanted. her lack of support along with my husbands heart attack pushed me over the edge, i changed colleges. i have a recent nursing school graduate, whom has slid me under her wing, very supportive. she’s great.

be it an Anthony Hopkins wise old professor type, or a super butch mechanic type…

I want to be under someone’s wing.

I have moved on to mentor #3, found through mentor #2. The others are still in in the background, but it looks as though I will be working more directly with #3, and on a regular, practical basis. She gave me some homework so I have some things to think about for next week’s session. I think she will have a lot to teach me about curriculum design. I will have to reign her in sometimes because sometimes her brainstorming ideas don’t fit well with my realities (she doesn’t know my field very well).

Some day when I have done a lot of job-related mentoring stuff I’d like to move on and get a coach for the rest of my career-related issues. But I have enough to work on at the moment. I would also like to work with a clutter consultant, or personal organizer, or even hire someone with library skills to get a lot of my materials in a usable system. But all that costs money, which I don’t have at the moment. Fortunately, the mentor(s) I am working with aren’t costing me anything (which is amazing, really).

I had a meeting today with potential mentor #2 (and one this morning with mentor #1). Mentor #1 told me to beware of making myself into too much of a project, which I guess makes sense, but it feels good to talk to someone not at work (which mentor #1 is).

Mentor #2 seems to be more practical. Mentor #1 listens to my reflections to get at where I’m having professional blockage. Which is funny, because he isn’t really at all the touchy-feely type.

I look forward to the day when I don’t really need either of them, but it is good to have them for now.

one, I seem to have found one for now.