Developing a Mentorship Mindset

David H. Crean, managing director for Objective Capital Partners, discusses the need for young entrepreneurs and business owners to develop a mentorship mindset as they progress in their careers and personal lives. Dr. Crean has several mentors and concurrently serves as a mentor for several mentees in the life sciences and financial services industries.

Great leaders don't make decisions in a vacuum. They surround themselves with a circle of smart, wise people, build coalitions, and as an end result, end up minimizing the overall risk of decisions. Often times, these smart people include mentors. Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects in a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations. Many leaders in today's business environment are seen as mentors and have mentors of their own.

Mentoring, at its core, guarantees people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges, and makes them feel like they matter. As you develop in your career, I encourage you to seek out mentors to help guide and navigate the issues you face. I also encourage you to serve as a mentor to others. Integrate mentoring into your daily life. Make mentoring part of what you're already doing professionally, and in some cases personally.

Make time for mentoring activities. It is important, it energizes me, and it matters.

Mentoring

A mentor is one of a network of helping relationships that provides task and emotional support and also serves as a role model. Mentoring does not have to be a monogamous relationship. A mentor is a part of a network of mentors and not the only one. 

Mentors serve a number of roles. They give task support through sponsorship, introductions and critical feedback. They provide emotional support such as counseling, affirmation and encouragement. They serve as positive role models. As I view it, mentoring has a strategic, long-term focus versus a short-term goal often seen with coaching. Mentoring is about long term career progress and the focus is on strategic skills that aren't necessarily of immediate use and have to build. Lastly, when it comes to mentoring, the mentee is the person who drives the relationship.

Why does Mentoring Matter?

There are a number of research studies that confirm the impact and importance of mentoring. Benefits include improved career outcomes, increased employee engagement, retention and engagement. The benefits of a mentoring relationship are not limited to mentees either; compared to non-mentors, employees who act as mentors, report greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment, have greater career success, and perceive increased work-related fulfillment.

Understand What you Want Out of a Mentor

Visualize your ideal mentor. Think about where does your ideal mentor work? What type of industry or organization do they work in? How do you feel when you connect with your mentor? Imagine a typical conversation. In what ways does your mentor help you? What skills will you learn from your mentor? What new accomplishments will you have achieved as a result of this relationship? Prepare yourself for exploration in a mentoring relationship.

• Develop your self-awareness (conduct a 360-degree personal audit). 
• Write down your goals and determine what your hopes, dreams, and goals are for the next six months to five years. 
• Be able to get clear on how a mentor can help you meet your goals will lead you to the right mentor. 

What Makes a Good Mentee?

Being successful as a mentee is not about being perfect. It's about paying attention to these several characteristics that you can easily incorporate as you go forward in a relationship with a mentor.

• Trustworthiness, even sacred stuff. 
• Be vulnerable and real. 
• Consider using self-disclosure with your mentor and telling them something about you that is personal and might show that you are not perfect. In addition, when your mentor reciprocates, guard this information with your life. 
• Be confident and believe you are worthy of being mentored. 
• Successful mentees add value to their mentor's life. 
• Demonstrate appreciation. 
• Bring your positive energy to your mentor. 

Effective Mentor-Mentee Relationships

Many mentees fear approaching potential mentors because they worry they're bothering them or wasting their time. Let go of that fear.

• Make your communication style, mood, and expectations transparent. 
• Notice and appreciate your differences - finding similarities helps you bond, determining your differences helps you grow. 
• Determine your goals for yourself and your mentoring relationship - encourage you to share your career goals with your mentor, and create a plan for how to accomplish them. 
• Determine logistics and communication. 
• Trust is the foundation of most effective relationships -assess the trust in your relationship with your mentor. Build trust by taking a risk and self-disclosing. 
• Keep secrets sacred and be your mentor's best advocate. 
• Be a truth teller to your mentor. 
• Set and communicate boundaries.

Agree on process

Focus on goal & clarity

Be proactive- mentee drives the relationship

Make connections

Provide feedback

Be authentic

Checking in

Find your own mentor

Making Cross Gender & Diverse Relationships Work

By and large, most cross-gender relationships are perfectly professional. But remember, managing other people's impressions is just as important as what happens in the actual relationship. Diverse mentoring refers to mentoring relationships where mentors and mentees are members of different demographic groups such as race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and so on. 

• First, acknowledge to yourself and to your mentor that gender differences matter both in the relationship and other's perceptions.
• Choose your mentoring activities carefully and perhaps differently with cross-gender relationships. 
• Take the lead in setting the tone of the conversation. As the mentee, you set the tone for the conversation. Take small risks and build up. 
• Address discomfort around gender if it arises.
• Stay attuned to managing the impressions online and in person. 
• Discover and build on your similarities with one another. 
• Acknowledge how your differences impact your life. 
• Ask for feedback. 
• Speak up and check in with each other. 
• Be yourself, by all means, in your mentoring relationship, and be willing to teach and learn from each other.

Final Thoughts

Life will continue to hand us challenges, forcing us to take on new identities, learn new skills and require us to make important decisions, both professionally and personally. And remembering that what makes you humble, makes you a better giver of advice. In addition to cultivating a network of mentors for yourself, start being a mentor for other people now.  Develop a team of mentors, not just for your professional life but for your personal life too. 

My final comment on mentoring and its impact on me comes from a quote told to me by one of my mentors, Mark Fingerlin, who passed in April 2018.

“We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."

The only guarantee in life is that there will be constant change and upheaval. Find a mentor who will help you navigate the waters.

---

Disclosure

Objective Capital Partners is a leading investment banking advisory firm whose Principals have collectively engaged in more than 500 successful transactions serving the transaction needs of growth stage and mid-size companies. The executive team has a unique combination of investment banking, private equity, and business ownership experience that enables Objective Capital Partners to provide large enterprise caliber investment banking services to companies with annual revenues up to $500MM. Services include sale transactions, partnering/ licensing, equity and debt capital raises, valuation and comprehensive advisory services. The firm uses a proprietary process to work to achieve maximum company valuation, premium pricing, and high client satisfaction rates post-sale. The firm’s industry expertise is focused on 5 verticals including healthcare, life sciences, business services, technology, and consumer products. Additional information on Objective Capital Partners is available at www.objectivecp.com.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, invitation or recommendation to buy, sell, subscribe for or issue any securities. Securities and investment banking services are offered through BA Securities, LLC Member FINRA, SIPC. Objective Capital Partners and BA Securities are separate and unaffiliated entities. While the information provided herein is believed to be accurate and reliable, Objective Capital Partners and BA Securities, LLC makes no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of such information. All information contained herein is preliminary, limited and subject to completion, correction or amendment. It should not be construed as investment, legal, or tax advice and may not be reproduced or distributed to any person.