Mentors have all kinds of personalities. Some are always in a hurry, some are perfectionists, some love to ask questions, and some are like walking libraries with years of historical knowledge. Learn how to work with each to make the most of your time with them to achieve success in your career and life.
🤔 Not really... I'm of the opinion that a good mentor is good no matter what level the mentee is at.
To me, a quality mentor is someone who likes to help those around them, no matter who they are. My favourite mentor thus far was someone who was liked by everyone at the office because he'd try to help anyone who approached him - from admin assistants to executives.
Incidentally, I think a good mentee has the same mindset. And when you have two people who like helping others working together towards a common goal, you have a win-win situation - everyone benefits, and that's magical.
If you mean how individual mentors changed as they followed my career progression?
Unfortunately, I haven't stayed at any one company long enough for any of my prior mentors to observe my career progression, nor long enough for me to observe how they changed, if at all.
If you mean how the types of mentors around me changed as I moved though my career?
I'm not sure my career progression has had any impact on the way the mentors around me interact with me.
One might assume that some mentors might be more hands-off as their mentees gain experience, and that does happen sometimes. But more often than not how hands-on or hands-off a mentor is depends more on their own personality.
Anyway, I probably completely misunderstood your question. Let me know if I can clarify. 😂
Which persona do you think that you currently are (mostly)? And which persona would you like to be & why?
Good questions!
I guess I'm a Historian for my projects, although everybody is for their own projects to an extent.
Other than that, I consider myself a work-in-progress - if that can be considered a "persona."
There were a few mentors I had over the years I really looked up to. I considered them to be like "Partners" to me when we worked together.
I briefly mentioned one in Dive 2 (https://newsletter.belowthesurface.top/p/dive-2-hope-why-you-need-it-how-to)
...and another in Dive 8 (https://newsletter.belowthesurface.top/p/dive-8-how-to-boost-your-career-with).
They're the kinds of mentors I'd like to be because we worked together to help each other grow. Working with them was always a win-win situation.
There's more to it than what I can share in a reply, so maybe I'll dive into that in a future edition. 😉
Cool. Thanks for the detailed response. Look forward to hearing more in a future edition.
I could have phrased better. Based on your experience, is there a type of mentor that is better for each level of your career?
🤔 Not really... I'm of the opinion that a good mentor is good no matter what level the mentee is at.
To me, a quality mentor is someone who likes to help those around them, no matter who they are. My favourite mentor thus far was someone who was liked by everyone at the office because he'd try to help anyone who approached him - from admin assistants to executives.
Incidentally, I think a good mentee has the same mindset. And when you have two people who like helping others working together towards a common goal, you have a win-win situation - everyone benefits, and that's magical.
How have the mentors changed as you progressed in your career?
If you mean how individual mentors changed as they followed my career progression?
Unfortunately, I haven't stayed at any one company long enough for any of my prior mentors to observe my career progression, nor long enough for me to observe how they changed, if at all.
If you mean how the types of mentors around me changed as I moved though my career?
I'm not sure my career progression has had any impact on the way the mentors around me interact with me.
One might assume that some mentors might be more hands-off as their mentees gain experience, and that does happen sometimes. But more often than not how hands-on or hands-off a mentor is depends more on their own personality.
Anyway, I probably completely misunderstood your question. Let me know if I can clarify. 😂