Have you ever had or been a mentor?

[Phoenix84]

As a sort of follow up to my thread on giving advice to your younger self, have you ever been or had a mentor?  It can be any mentor really, for your career, or just through life.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Nothing formal. 

I'd consider my HS drama coach to be a mentor, I was a really really shy kid.  He drug me kicking/screaming out of my shell.  He saw leadership potential in me.  If he hadn't pushed me I don't know if I'd have had the confidence to take on my current job.   He also crafted my public speaking skills, which will always be an assest.

I'd also consider my first boss and my current boss mentors.  They've taken an interest in my future after I talked about it and push me to take on more as time goes by so I can continue to grow.  My current boss is helping me learn to write papers for publication, something I didn't get around to with my first boss.  

[travelnut11]

Yes!  I mentored a teenage girl about 15 years ago and we're still close now that she's an adult.

I also do some sort of "informal" mentoring currently with an 11 year-old boy and his 12 year-old sister.  I was previously a CASA volunteer for their family and after the case closed we all agreed it would be great for me to stay involved as a mentor/adult friend.  We mostly do fun stuff now without all of the CASA/CPS rules but I'm also keeping tabs on how things are going at home as they've had a few chaotic years in the past. 

I'm a huge proponent of mentoring programs and really wish they could recruit more men.  There are so many boys out there who need a good role model (girls too but they don't match men with young girls for obvious reasons).  It's just sad that often they have too many female mentoring volunteers and never enough men so the boys are on wait lists forever.    A new thing I've heard of is family mentoring where the mentor is the parents/kids in a family and the mentee joins the family for activities/outings.  I'm not sure how well this works but it's an interesting concept and helps to ensure get the girls get access to male role models as well.

[shanendoah]

I have never been in a formal mentor/mentee relationship on either side. But I did have a great boss who I think of as a mentor. (She taught me a lot.) And when I was a manager, I made sure my open door policy applied not just to the staff I managed, but to any staff who had a question.
I had an executive director from another department ask me if I would help her analyst with certain parts of the job, and one of the other people who was an analyst at the same time I was and later became a supervisor used to come to me for advice with tricky situations. So I hope, that on some level, I was able to mentor them.
I do think the relationships at your job are the most important aspect of it- more important than the actual work you do quite often.

[Phoenix84]

I don't really count parents as mentors, even though they often fill the role.  To me, the role of mentor usually falls on someone outside your family.

I've never had a mentor as far as I can recall, especially not for my job.  Most of the stuff I learned for my job has either been self study, experience, or the good old fashioned school of hard knocks.

[lexxy703]

My Mom's friend Kira.  She was 10 years younger than my mom & 10 years older than me.  She sort of bridged the gap & could see both sides.  I would listen to her because she was still young & "cool".  She helped me through adolescents up into my 20s.  I still remember her telling me when I wanted to get a tattoo not to get it any place that couldn't be covered up at work, any place that would sag, stretch or otherwise change shape.  I never did get a tattoo.

[tloonya]

I went trough mentor school and decided 'heck, no'...and so there.

[Phoenix84]

Feb 26, 2014 12:30:25 GMT -5 travelnut11 said:

Yes!  I mentored a teenage girl about 15 years ago and we're still close now that she's an adult.

I also do some sort of "informal" mentoring currently with an 11 year-old boy and his 12 year-old sister.  I was previously a CASA volunteer for their family and after the case closed we all agreed it would be great for me to stay involved as a mentor/adult friend.  We mostly do fun stuff now without all of the CASA/CPS rules but I'm also keeping tabs on how things are going at home as they've had a few chaotic years in the past. 

I'm a huge proponent of mentoring programs and really wish they could recruit more men.  There are so many boys out there who need a good role model (girls too but they don't match men with young girls for obvious reasons).  It's just sad that often they have too many female mentoring volunteers and never enough men so the boys are on wait lists forever.    A new thing I've heard of is family mentoring where the mentor is the parents/kids in a family and the mentee joins the family for activities/outings.  I'm not sure how well this works but it's an interesting concept and helps to ensure get the girls get access to male role models as well.

I can understand the concerns, but I think girls can benefit from male role models/mentors.  If all the men in their lives are losers, teenage girls are likely to pick losers.  Having a good male role model could be good.

[travelnut11]

Feb 26, 2014 13:13:22 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Feb 26, 2014 12:30:25 GMT -5 travelnut11 said:

Yes!  I mentored a teenage girl about 15 years ago and we're still close now that she's an adult.

I also do some sort of "informal" mentoring currently with an 11 year-old boy and his 12 year-old sister.  I was previously a CASA volunteer for their family and after the case closed we all agreed it would be great for me to stay involved as a mentor/adult friend.  We mostly do fun stuff now without all of the CASA/CPS rules but I'm also keeping tabs on how things are going at home as they've had a few chaotic years in the past. 

I'm a huge proponent of mentoring programs and really wish they could recruit more men.  There are so many boys out there who need a good role model (girls too but they don't match men with young girls for obvious reasons).  It's just sad that often they have too many female mentoring volunteers and never enough men so the boys are on wait lists forever.    A new thing I've heard of is family mentoring where the mentor is the parents/kids in a family and the mentee joins the family for activities/outings.  I'm not sure how well this works but it's an interesting concept and helps to ensure get the girls get access to male role models as well.

I can understand the concerns, but I think girls can benefit from male role models/mentors.  If all the men in their lives are losers, teenage girls are likely to pick losers.  Having a good male role model could be good.

I totally agree with you and wish we didn't have to be so cautious but it's the reality.  All it takes is one bad incident to threaten the program and then NO kids get mentors.

I volunteered in an orphanage in Peru for a month and it was the same thing...both boys and girls needing male mentors.  The orphanage was run by all women and most of the volunteers were female.  When the male volunteers showed up it was like Christmas to the kids (boys and girls both).  This is a huge generalization but I think sometimes men are better at "playing" with kids on their level.  I'm not sure what it was entirely but we LOVED when we had male volunteers and so did the kids. 

[swamp]

My boss when I was an ADA.

He hired me because he said "I can teach someone to practice law, I can't teach them common sense or how to play nice in the sandbox."

I learned sooooooooo much from him.  The man is a political powerhouse.

[Deleted]

Yes to both questions. Though, in some cases I didn't attach mentor-ship to the process. Looking back and forward I can see more clearly it was indeed the case.

Most of my earlier days in life I had what I consider now, a collection of nugget mentoring from several people. Variety in mentor-ship made my life very interesting. Somehow each person connected the dots to help form the good part of my total person today. Currently, I find myself latched into two/three individuals' guidance concerning many things and remain in constant contact with them to this day.

As far as me being mentor to others- I've had, and still have my fair share of building up others in areas where I'd been broken. As matter of fact.. My mentoring others in those same areas helps keep the seal on my healing intact! 



 

[HoneyBBQ]

Yes, I've been a mentor and I have mentored students.

Academics are usually pretty conducive to that kind of relationship.

I also like to talk about advocacy - which is really a different sort of mentorship. In a way, it's much more important to advocate for your students and really help pave the way for them.

[sheilaincali]

I had a mentor of sorts when I was in the Air Force.  He was a E-6 when I was an E-3.  He trained me in when I moved to his department and became a very dear friend of mine.  His wife did daycare for my son until he was 6 months old. 

He was like a wise, older brother to me and became close with my husband as well.  Sadly he passed away from cancer a few years ago.  His wife and I are FB friend and reminisce about Russ often.

This thread makes me miss him. 

[Deleted]

I've been a formal mentor at work on and off for 10+  years.

[Bonny]

I've had a couple of really good bosses from whom I had a sort of informal mentorship.

Boy do you appreciate those people when you have a bad, self serving boss!

[thyme4change]

My current boss was my mentor for a long time, but I think that has passed.  Even though he is still my boss, we have such different strengths that we have become ying and yang.  Probably one of the greatest things he taught me was to hire someone who is strong where you are weak - that way together you can offer the complete package.  You can also pass off the stuff you suck at, and that person will be happy to shine in that task.

[thyme4change]

Feb 26, 2014 12:35:29 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

My Mom's friend Kira.  She was 10 years younger than my mom & 10 years older than me.  She sort of bridged the gap & could see both sides.  I would listen to her because she was still young & "cool".  She helped me through adolescents up into my 20s.  I still remember her telling me when I wanted to get a tattoo not to get it any place that couldn't be covered up at work, any place that would sag, stretch or otherwise change shape.  I never did get a tattoo.

I laughed when I read this because my next door neighbor is just about halfway between my age and my daughter's age.  She is counting the days until my little angel goes through puberty and will need a go-between/extra set of ears.  She can't wait!

[mmhmm]

I've had several mentors over the years who taught me a great deal and helped me find my way in my profession.  As nursing supervisor for the hospital, mentoring was a part of my job and a part I really enjoyed. Most mentors who are worth their salt learn from those they're mentoring just as those they're mentoring learn from them.  It's a two-way process if done correctly, and it's something you never really step away from.  Those who mentor have a natural desire to be helpful and to share what they've learned.

I had mother in the ER most of yesterday.  She'd had some chest pain and we needed to be sure it wasn't a heart attack in progress as I can't treat those symptoms at home.  One of the nurses assigned to her was a new nurse, learning the ropes.  She was having trouble drawing blood from the IV catheter that had been inserted, as was her mentor.  I watched for a moment and spotted the problem, so showed them both what to do to alleviate it.  For me, to show them how was as natural as rain, even as a family member and not a member of hospital staff.  Both were very grateful, thankfully.