Leap Frog

I wrote a few days ago about a lesson that was so obvious that, naturally, had to hit me in the face before I realized it. Well in the same vain, here’s another “duh” moment that struck me that I think everyone can share in.

There’s certainly something to be said for being an individual and coming up with your own ideas. Sure, it’s great to be the point person on something and come back and say, “Yep, I took care of it all by myself!” But sometimes, you could use more than just what you’ve got in your head. You can branch out beyond your ideas.

I’m fortunate to have mentors that are excited to hear my ideas and to bounce ideas off of me. The Pro and I sit back to back and spend plenty talking about ways to improve things and make our company and better place to work. One of us may have an idea and the other responds with more thoughts and feedback. It’s a great system to get our HR practices bigger and better. And I’m fortunate to have 100percentoverhead as to push our social media efforts forward.

Here’s an example that happened today. We’re going to be speaking on a panel in a few weeks for the local social media club breakfast (more on that soon) and in talking about our plan of attack, 100% OH suggested that we share our story and then somehow make it more interactive. I responded and suggested that we give our two cents and start a conversation by asking questions that are on our minds that we know others have too. He elaborated on that with some ideas for questions. I responded to that and suggested contacting folks in advance to get members thinking about answers so we could generate buzz that would benefit everyone. And so on and so forth. When we catch up with our third fabulous friend and panelist and get her thoughts, it’s going to spiral in an even greater way. I love it.

So what’s the lesson here? It’s leap frog – you just keep hopping along, using each other for support to push you forward. I’m sure I would’ve gotten to the point I’m at now eventually, but I can attribute the rapid nature of it to the fact that I reach out to others and talk to them to see what’s going on outside my own little bubble. You can really learn a lot (and teach a lot to others too!) when you look beyond what goes on in your day to day. Sure, it’s a little after school special…but I’m OK with that. Try it sometime – you’ll be surprised.

Who do you bounce ideas off of? Does anyone come to you for this stuff?

How old are you again?

Last night, I went with a friend of mine to a wedding of two of her students. The wedding was beautiful and they had a lovely reception that followed. Instead of assigned seating, they let you choose your tables and we made our way to a spot in the corner that looked cozy and were soon joined by some people that were more than happy to share their life stories with us.

I should mention that the bride and groom were both in their mid-40s or -50s, so, naturally, all of their friends (and thus, the people at my table) were a similar age. This wasn’t really an issue (after all, I deal with employees from age 20 to 80 on a daily basis) until the end of our dinner.

While in a discussion about healthcare, I made a comment to the  particularly drunk man sitting on my left in slight disagreement with what he had said. He paused, looked at me, grinned and then said to me, “Now, how old are you again?” Of course I knew what he was getting at and, sure enough, when I told him, he said, “Well, I’m more than twice your age and let me tell you, I know what I’m talking about” before disregarding my point and stepping back onto his soapbox.

Gosh, I love closeminded people!

There was no better time for me to stumble upon this article (thanks to my Twitter feed) from the Wall Street Journal that talks about how younger employees are mentoring senior staff. As companies are figuring out how social media plays out in a business arena, they call in the experts – the 20-something kids who know what they’re doing on a computer. And I’m no stranger to this since that very phenomenon is going on now in my company.

For people like my drunkard, age trumps knowledge and thought. They feel like they’ve lived longer, so they’ve had more “life experience”, they’ve seen more and, therefore, they know more. It’s incredibly frustrating (not to mention obnoxious). Recognizing the value of diversity of viewpoints includes listening to what people of all ages have to say. I’ve talked to several high level people in my office about interns and junior staff and every conversation is pretty similar: these “bottom of the food chain people” make such important contributions to a project that they make the end product so much better in the eyes of staff and clients alike.

Having been discounted because of my age many times at work, what I’ve found to be the best course of action is speaking up and showing (not just telling) what you can do. People start to take note, even if it’s slowly at first, and will eventually respond. Asking to be on projects to lend your knowledge as well as learn from others is a good tactic.

Until then, just take solace in the old adage, “age before beauty”…

“The manatee has become the mento”

"The manatee has become the mento." --Tracy Jordan from NBC's 30 Rock

I’m an avid believer in the idea of a mentor. I’m in HR, it kind of goes with the territory. But come on, the concept that someone is looking out for you, guiding you, teaching you – it doesn’t get much better than that. Tracy and Kenneth from 30 Rock would clearly agree.

Now, there is a difference between formal mentoring and informal mentoring. And they definitely serve different purposes. Formal mentoring happens when you’re paired with someone who is supposed to teach you something. It can definitely have a more casual feel to it. You might be matched by an external group, but you don’t have a set agenda and it’s up to you to set one for yourselves (and that’s what we decided on in a mentoring program in our office, but that’s a whole other story). Or it can be more structured in that you’re matched with the goal of accomplishing something specific.

Mentoring can also be informal. Personally I think that the informal relationship is one that develops over time because there is a personal connection between the people in that relationship. It’s not forced or set up through matching, but instead comes out of conversations, shared projects or group interactions. Sometimes you unintentionally gravitate towards someone who can become a mentor.

I had a brush with this “gravitational” nature of an informal mentoring relationship and that got me thinking about mentoring relationships. I’ve been working on a project for a while now with someone I really like and truly respect. At a meeting last week, he spoke up on my behalf to tout some of the work I had done. And when I found myself less than thrilled with the outcome, not only did he check up on me, but he encouraged me with some positive reinforcement and advised me on how to move forward from my stalled position.

That’s really what mentoring is all about. Here’s someone who is looking out for me, acting as my cheerleader, pushing me to do more and guiding me towards success.

Depending on your personality, both formal and informal mentoring can work for you. Sometimes you need the structure of a formal relationship. Sometimes you don’t and informal works better. But either way, finding someone who is looking out for you and helping you achieve your own goals goes a long way towards maintaining your happiness (at work and in life) and setting you up to do good things down the road. You can ask your mentor(s) to give feedback, to act as decision advisors, and to serve as stable members of your overall career support network.

So what if you don’t have one? Identify someone who you think can be a mentor. Talk to them about that role, why you picked them and what you’d want them to do. Think about what you want to get out of a mentor – is it career guidance? Is it help with a particular skill set? Is it to introduce you to others in your field? Is it to pave a way for you in your organization? This is on you, no one else is going to own it. And keep in mind that your mentor today won’t necessarily be your mentor forever. They can phase in and out as you need them.

If you can’t identify someone to serve as your mentor after thinking really hard about it, think about why you are where you are and whether it’s time to make a change. Yes, yes, I know, now’s not the best time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t consider your options. And if you are stuck, find someone external to your organization that can be a mentor for you.

Any success stories you’ve had being mentored? How about successes as a mentor? What worked and what didn’t? What do you want in a mentor? Show me some love.