Finding a champion

Searching for a mentor is not only about getting someone to share their experience or introductions to new contacts.  A mentor also needs to be more than the person with a title at work who can advocate for a promotion for their mentee.  A mentor should be equal parts champion, cheerleader, and coach.  A champion will march, and I do mean march, into a conference room and tell the head of the organization and the second in command why it is important to retain, support, and adequately train entry-level faculty/staffer/conservator [fill-in with appropriate title] better. 

I’ve done this before.  Then I was promptly targeted afterwards and had to find myself a new job.  But I would probably do it again given the opportunity.

A champion will root for their mentee until the mentee believes in themselves.  A champion is enthusiastic, brings the best possible energy and vibes, they even bring in surrogates to help bolster their mentee.  That’s what my most dear and longest supporting mentor has done and continues to do for me.  Thanks Miriam!

I’ve also done this for a mentee.  Even if I am not the best person to provide advice or if I am unfamiliar with a subject, I call on the experts I rely on and share this knowledge and these personal contacts with those I’m mentoring.  I learned from the best. Thanks again Miriam! ^_^

Last but not least of all, a champion will tell their mentee what they don’t want to hear to help them.  A champion stays in their mentee’s ear when all feels lost and seems pointless to keep trying.  Champions provide more than silver linings and never just leaves it at “everything happens for a reason.”  A real champion sticks with the mentee to bring needed perspective to devastating disappointments and always celebrates the hardest of anyone for all of the mentee’s successes, big and small.

With a clear understanding that mentors do not have to be anything like you, I sit in an advantageous position of having five, ongoing, mentoring partnerships – with only one of my mentors who presents and identifies as I do (same race and gender as me).  The most important characteristic a mentor can have is to be truly supportive of their mentee.  Most people definitely know it when they see it.

If you feel that you are one of those individuals that cannot determine whether or not a mentor is fully supportive or you’ve been burned by one of those company “blind-date” set-up style mentoring programs, check- out next month’s blog entry for September.