Paying it forward: be a mentor
Through different forms of mentoring, you can influence the world you live in by sharing with others.
The concept of mentoring dates back to Greek mythology with Mentor, a loyal friend and adviser to Odysseus, king of Ithaca. While today the concept takes on different forms, it retains the foundational principles of advising and guiding a novice in some aspect of his or her life.
I am the person I am today because of the efforts of mentors who guided me through life, starting with my mother and my fourth-grade teacher who reminded me that I did have a gift for math and science and helped me find ways to study despite my battle with mild dyslexia.
Later, a college professor and supervisor helped me develop the professional skills I needed to find a job and be successful in the workplace. They reviewed my resume and gave tips, suggested books and classes to take that enhanced my soft skills, along with allowing me to practice my new-found skills with them. Lastly, my formal mentor today is tweaking my interests and goals for possible future promotions while encouraging me to be satisfied with where I find myself today. She reminded me that I can be a leader and influence others as a peer and don’t have to have a formal leadership role.
All of these people offered advice and introduced tools to assist me, but at the end of the day, the hard work was still mine.
In the “Gloo” Blog, Robyn Grayless writes about how many companies are finding success with formal mentoring programs that improve job performance and employee retention. This will become increasingly important with the influx of millennials in the workforce who are quick to change jobs and look for better work cultures and development opportunities.
Mentor/mentee relationships also help establish and support stronger cultures that can break down biases among employees. If you are not part
of a formal mentoring program, do not be discouraged. There is a lot of value found in peer mentoring, which Nicole Fallen writes about in Business News Daily. Find a trustworthy peer with whom you can have honest and open feedback. This associate will be close enough to understand your work and workgroup culture. You will swap roles depending on the situation. Being the mentee will get you the guidance you need without relying on a supervisor. Being the mentor will give you the satisfaction and confidence which come with helping someone else. And the best part is, your group becomes more productive as the team is strengthened and the culture is improved to promote working together.
Another opportunity is to reach out to the youth in the community. There are so many groups such as Girls Inc., Big Brothers and Big Sisters, foster care and programs at your church, to name a few. If you have made it to your adult life, then you have something to share. I am sure the journey was not an easy one.
David McMillan, chairman of the Alumni Board for the Big Brothers Big Sisters who, in an article he wrote for HuffPost in 2013, says that youth in the program are less likely to abuse drugs, consume alcohol or skip school.
You can help make society better by guiding youth — tomorrow’s employees and future leaders — to be happy, productive adults who are giving back.
After adopting my foster daughter, I began to realize how just providing a stable relationship affected her greatly by allowing her to grow and become the person she was supposed to be instead of wasting her energy and worrying about “where will I be next?” and “who will accept me?” When her trust in me grew, it was amazing how her confidence and belief in herself blossomed, but she still had to put in the effort to change.
This should not surprise me. I am most productive when I am comfortable and trusting of my environment. You don’t have to start big the next time you are trying to reach a goal. Look around and see who else may be interested. Invite someone to go to Toastmasters to improve public speaking skills, or your exercise class to improve their health.
What is most amazing is when you set out to change someone else’s life, you may find that the biggest change is in yourself. Focusing on someone else will make you realize the blessings you have overlooked in your own life, and that can change your world.
Kendra Ware is an engineer at Tennessee Valley Authority. Contact her at kware5646@gmail. com.