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A. Selecting and Negotiating with a Mentor
What is a Mentor? The Mentor should be a person you
trust, because you should feel comfortable sharing your concerns and needs with that person. Ideally, it’s a person
who demonstrates many of the leadership skills presented in the OCPM. It’s a person in or outside of your organization
who:
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· can help you understand the cultural environment;
· can kick around ideas with you, work with you to identify
and remove barriers;
· can advise you on where to get help developing the leadership skills you feel you need to work on;
· knows the lay of
the land and can help you gain access or exposure to ideas and people that may help you accomplish your work; develop your
skills; achieve your goals.
A mentor is not simply a technical or program consultant,
although there is certainly a place for such a person in many OCPM projects. A mentor is a person who is willing to
devote some amount of time to talking issues through with you, to help clarify your vision for your sphere of influence, and
to assist you in evaluating whether what you propose to do aligns well with agency goals and values.
In the best case, you will be able to find a mentor within
your agency. However, there are some occasions in which this will not be possible. If the culture of the agency is such
that finding a mentor within would only serve to maintain entrenched thinking or if there is no one whose leadership traits
emulate those taught in the OCPM, you should look outside of your agency.
Following are some considerations for selecting a mentor,
and some steps you may want to take in establishing this kind of relationship.
1. Begin with the end in mind.
What skills would you like to
develop? Decide in which area of your professional life, as it relates to the OCPM, you would like a mentor. For
example,
· Are you looking for all-around development of a broad range of skills?
· Have you discovered a
leadership competency that you want to seriously invest in, such as emotional intelligence or innovation and risk taking?
· Do
you need guidance with the culture of the organization in which you work?
· Is your OCPM project such that the person
who is your mentor not only would need to possess leadership skills but also have a great deal of technical knowledge in order
to guide you?
Give this some thought as you
participate in the OCPM. Whatever goal you choose, it will help you to work effectively with your mentor if you focus
on a main goal.
2. Identify qualities you are seeking.
Once you have your focus in
mind, make a list of those qualities, characteristics, traits, and behaviors that you need in a mentor. Use what you’re
learning or have learned in the OCPM to guide your list.
If a certain person comes immediately
to your mind, and there’s no question that this person would be a good mentor, by all means skip to step 7. If
not, the following actions may help you identify the person you would like to approach.
3.
Identify possible candidates.
Make a list of people you think
have demonstrated the qualities on your requirements list or who have accomplished or are on their way to accomplishing goals
similar to yours. Whose leadership skills do you admire? Who within your agency is influential either among colleagues
or staff in other agencies? Think about influence that goes beyond the expected structural influence. Who would
people want on their side in a tough situation? Think within your own agency first where issues such as access to resources,
cultural assessment, and establishment of collaborative relationships may be easier. If there are no suitable candidates
from within, some other places to look are:
4. Find out about your best candidates.
Select two or three of the people that you feel would best meet your needs, and find
out about them. Observe how they interact with others. Find out what their ideas and philosophies are. You
need to know about their style of personal interaction, availability, integrity, ability to maintain confidences, judgment
and discretion. Once you’ve made your selection, think about how you would explain to him or her your reasons
for asking for this kind of relationship.
5. Think about what
you bring to the table.
The best mentoring relationships
benefit both the mentor and the learning partner. What can you bring to the table that will help the mentor learn better
skills? This part of the offering can range from the fact of the relationship itself, to technical skills, to
a partnership in a project, or simply the good feeling from having helped a willing student. If you’re thinking
about an OCPM project that will affect his or her sphere of influence, be sure to mention this.
6. Make an appointment.
If possible, and definitely
if you don’t know this person, meet with your candidate in person. You may want to talk to the person first to
gain an understanding of whether this could be a good mentoring match for you. Explain your goals and the need for a
mentor and why you selected the person as a candidate. This can be rather tricky. Since you will end by selecting
only one person, you need to be careful not to alienate people through this process.
7. Make the request.
In sales positions, this is
commonly known as closing the sale. After talking in person to the people you’ve selected as candidates and selecting
the person you feel is the best fit for you, ask the person you’ve selected to act as your mentor. This may seem
obvious, but in many cases it’s left as an assumption. You will need to explain to the person what you’re
expecting him or her to do and what the mentoring role generally requires. Don’t forget to offer what you can
bring to the table. This should be set up as a win-win for both parties.
If you’ve explicitly talked to more than one
person about this, you will need to let the others know that you’ve asked someone else and be prepared to offer a diplomatic
reason why. Don’t forget to thank everyone for their time.
Set up another meeting to finalize the details of your
mentoring agreement. This will include mutual expectations, how you will work together and respect each others time
and needs, and the desired outcomes.
B. Defining and clarifying expectations
The OCPM mentoring relationship is a partnership, one where
both parties gain. To this end, the first step is for you, the learning partner, and your mentor to candidly discuss
and define things you would each like to gain from this relationship and what you can contribute. It’s sometimes
helpful (but certainly not necessary) to commit this to writing. (If you do put your agreement into writing, don’t
make it overly burdensome; a single page with bullets signed by both of you is more than enough. It goes without saying
that the learning partner would be responsible for doing this.)
Acknowledging that each of you has needs and being open
and honest about them can help make your partnership more successful. Failing to state your expectations can result
in disappointment for either or both of you.
You may want to have an agreement that covers further issues,
such as
· How you will communicate with each other?
· When and how often you will meet?
· What
the boundaries are on time investments?
· Desired outcomes from the partnership;
· Special needs or expectations that either
of you have;
· An evaluation and feedback process.
C. The Mentor/Learning Partner Relationship
Mentoring is often thought of as a top-down, Master-Apprentice
relationship and, indeed, this certainly can be the case. This model, however, relies heavily on the good will and spare
time (if any) of the mentor. Today more people are viewing mentoring relationships as partnerships. The
mentor may still have greater experience, skills and insight, but both parties can contribute to a successful outcome.
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