A520.7.3.RB_HansardCarey

A520.7.3.RB_HansardCarey

Having a mentor is very important for everyone from prospective managers to up and coming athletes. When I was preparing to teach, I was paired with a mentor who helped me prepare for things that formal schooling would never have helped me prepare for. Essentially, he acted as both a mentor and a coach. You can learn about how things should work, but they rarely happen according to the textbook. Mentors can also offer coaching, too, by providing advice on how to deal with organizational politics. For example, they can give you perspective on how to handle situations within the organization, and how to conduct yourself in meetings and other types of professional situations.  By observing mentors, you can also gain insight into what makes them effective as mentors or leaders. As a new teacher without a mentor, I would have literally been lost. He provided me with practical ideas that I could use in the classroom. He coached me through behavior management situations and how to deal with parents and administration that I otherwise would not have known how to deal with. He was able to help me recognize my weaknesses and give me suggestions for improvement. The mentoring suggestions he provided for me during my internship period helped me form a plan for when I had a class of my own.

In my current position, I have never really had a formal mentor. I feel that because of this, I was not able to get myself up to speed as soon as I could have been. The person that was supposed to have been my mentor was a teleworker. She was too busy to really be able to guide me, give me tips on how to improve, or even teach me how to use some of the software required to do my job. Because of this, I regretted leaving teaching and was actually considering leaving this job and going back to the public school system within weeks of starting. I felt like I was floundering around and did not know who to go to for help or guidance. Employees who feel this way cannot be productive. When they do not have a definitive sense of direction, they cannot effectively lead others either. For this reason, I feel that mentors are an important asset to any organization.

Informally, I have made several of my teammates my mentors. They have a lot of knowledge about technology since most of them come from an IT background. Whenever there is a situation that involves a technological issue, I am sure to listen intently and watch what they do so that I can learn what to do for myself next time.

I think that no matter what field a person is in, a mentor will make that person better at his/her job. Any time you have guidance in your life, you have a higher likelihood of being successful.  It is like trying to go on a diet by yourself or going on a diet after joining Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. Those who have someone pushing them to lose weight or exercise will be able to achieve their goals faster and with more success than those who go it alone.