Mentoring works!

Having worked in the private sector for 18 years I found it very frustrating when I joined the public sector when it came down to moving forwards on new ideas. I was an experienced individual who had lots of skills and new ideas but I kept finding it very hard to get others to take my ideas on board and try them out to see if it would work for them. It got to a point where I thought ‘why bother’? Why don’t I just let them do it their way! In all honesty I did this for a number of months until one of the ‘top bosses’ employed a consultant who was on my wave length. This individual when I met him in all honesty frightened me with his knowledge, wisdom and the task he had to do in a very short period of time. I was asked to work alongside him on a major project I was working on to develop new processes and reporting tools etc. I took the opportunity with open arms and I asked him to be my mentor. We worked together very closely over a two year period and got the results we wanted. For example we worked a cross functional team working across various locations ensuring that we all adhered to the same processes and procedures and all ‘sang from the same hymn sheet!’ How did we do this? Well I initially prepared a list of questions to ask him, such how did he implement these changes in other organisations, what did he expect from me and what did I expect from him? He then gave me the guidance I needed to drive the new way of working across the organisation, he attended meetings with me with senior executives, chipping in and guiding the conversation if I was not quite on track. He also gave me feedback, some I admit I didn’t like at the time! Such I was not strong enough in the way I challenged people and sometimes could come across as I though I had no knowledge, yet I did. I am still in touch with my mentor even now after leaving the organisation and this has given other people and me the comfort that as a person he cares about others as people not just as a worker! Mentoring is a valuable approach to helping you learn and develop and I can personally recommend Ida Abbott’s book, ‘Being an Effective Mentor: 101 Practical Strategies for Success’ whether you are a mentor or are being mentored.