Jason Buffington .com

transcript

Last week, I had the best phone call.   A work colleague and I were catching up – and at they end, they said, “Hey, can I get on your recurring calendar?”   It was a request to begin a mentoring relationship.

Is there a higher complement you can pay someone than to say, “I get value out of exchanging ideas with you” – so of course I said yes.  On a previous episode, I talked about the power of peer-level mentoring – but let’s talk about the more common style of Batman to Robin or Paul to Timothy … this week from the mentee perspective.

And we’ve just covered the most important lesson to the mentee – please ask.

One, it is a very kind complement.  But also, it shows that you want to grow and are ready to work on it.  Not everyone is in a place in their career, current job role, personal life, etc. where they are really in a growth mode.   So, if you are, then:

Look inward, or ask a manager or colleague, where would you benefit from some outside perspective from some outside perspective to grow in your skills, your career, whatever.   Be relatively clear about what you think you want to develop.

Look around for someone whom you believe exhibits what you are seeking.  Again, bounce potential mentors off your manager or colleague.  Pro Tip: look wider than you think, across your whole organization and maybe outside it, depending on what you want to learn and where you are in your journey.

And then just ask.

You and they have seasons of busyness, so they might say they can’t for a while or suggest a different mentor. But I’ve rarely been told no.  Good leaders, especially servant-hearted leaders, want those around them to grow.  They are standing by – ready to dig in – if you ask.

So, what does the ask look like?  Two key elements driven by the mentee:

A recurring meeting

I prefer a 25m Teams/Zoom call every two weeks.  If we have to move it a day or so, no problem. If it’s a busy week, maybe just cancel cuz we know we’ll meet in two weeks.

I’d personally rather have a more recurring cadence and give time back, than constantly be trying to align calendars.

A topic to work on

Learning is always more effective when you can immediately put it into practice, so if you want to develop a skill, bring a project or goal. Admittedly, when I mentor folks, I am often running projects through virtual teams, so I’ll find you a role within the team that lets you gain that experience.  But bring some ideas on what you want to work on.

That’s it – make the ask, bring a focus area, and offer a schedule.  See ya next Monday