{"id":5772,"date":"2022-08-16T21:21:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T01:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/?p=5772"},"modified":"2023-02-24T21:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-02-25T01:22:57","slug":"mentorship-doesnt-have-to-die-with-remote-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/2022\/08\/16\/mentorship-doesnt-have-to-die-with-remote-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentorship Doesn’t Have to Die with Remote Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Who is your mentor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether one name comes to mind or not, it\u2019s unlikely you\u2019ve gotten where you are without guidance, support or insight from someone outside of your immediate family. Maybe you don\u2019t have a formal coffee meeting or a monthly check-in (although I recommend it). But without mentors, none of us would be here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite some hustle-culture influencers\u2019 best attempts to convince you otherwise, we can\u2019t move forward on our own. We need other people to show us the way \u2014 or even better, help us find it ourselves. Whether they help you land a dream job or just show you a Photoshop shortcut, mentors are essential to our development. And not just early in our careers. Outside of setting their company\u2019s vision, I see providing and seeking mentorship as the most important things for a leader to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embracing mentorship does more than help us professionally. It gives us a growth mindset and opens us up to deeper connections, helping us learn new things and progress as people. In a remote or hybrid work environment, that can be even more challenging. I empathize with the more than 40% of college students<\/a> worried about missing networking and mentorship opportunities without in-person interaction. But in a world that can feel disconnected, it\u2019s even more important to be proactive and look for opportunities to learn from others, wherever those opportunities may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentorship isn\u2019t just a relationship \u2014 it\u2019s a mindset. We all have a lot to share and even more to learn. A trusted advisor is just one tool for becoming a better team member, problem solver and human. Here\u2019s why I think mentorship is so important, and how to get the most out of the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we need mentors?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few months out of college, I had a quick-turn concept build for a client. The presentation was on a Monday, so I came in on Saturday hoping to knock the project out quickly and resume my weekend. While my boss sat in his office, I worked on concepts. When I showed him my work, I heard a resounding, \u201cYeah, those aren\u2019t right.\u201d I took note of his feedback, made changes, and came back with a revised concept. Then, the process reset. I ended up doing this all day Saturday and all day Sunday until I found the right concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve made it pretty clear that I\u2019m not a proponent of weekend work or hustle culture. But this experience stuck with me because my creative director stayed there the whole time, waiting in his office, until I unlocked my potential. He could have done it on his own in 15 minutes, but he took the time to give me feedback and let me find the right solution on my own. He dedicated his time to helping me grow and teaching me to fish rather than casting a line and walking away. That is mentorship that sticks with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t have one person that I\u2019ve dubbed my mentor, but I do have a mentorship mindset. I intentionally have many conversations with many types of people, stitching together varying viewpoints to use as guidance in my life. This approach keeps me open to new viewpoints and reminds me to learn from others. Even if I\u2019m out of corporate-ladder rungs to climb on paper, a mentorship mindset ensures that I never stop growing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentor relationships also cracks our corporate facades, connecting us on a deeper, unfiltered level and helping us become more than just a box on Zoom. And part of bringing our full selves to work means acknowledging that we can\u2019t operate in a vacuum. Even in a remote-work world, we need guidance, connection and a listening ear to help us navigate uncertain terrain. By seeking mentors, we can find these genuine connections in our workplaces and embrace the constant learning and personal growth that comes from a mentorship mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A two-way street<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we think of mentors, we traditionally think of an older, experienced professional taking a bright-eyed junior employee under their wing and showing them the ropes. But mentorship is a two-way street and a lifelong endeavor \u2014 it\u2019s not something you should get promoted out of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking to other leaders and those who went before is an important part of my growth as a CEO. But I\u2019d be sorely misinformed \u2014 and out of touch \u2014 if I didn\u2019t equally prioritize speaking to junior employees and understanding their perspectives. Without this feedback loop, we\u2019d just be dictating policy with no understanding of how it affects people on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This point is vital for leaders to practice, but all of us can work on broadening our mentorship net. Wisdom can come from anywhere. In coffee chats with people, I find the questions they ask me are just as valuable as any answer I give them. By taking the time to speak, I learn where their head is at and get a glimpse of their perspective.These meetings are harder in a digital-first world, no question. But by not seeking them out, we miss out on valuable connections and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the most of a mentorship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, meeting with a potential mentor isn\u2019t always a transformative learning experience, and people earlier in their careers may have reservations about approaching a leader. Based on my time as both a mentor and mentee, I think these guidelines help make it a valuable experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Be curious. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested people interest people. Displaying curiosity in mentor conversations helps you connect on a deeper level, and shows the other person that you\u2019re genuinely invested in hearing what they have to say. Ask questions, share your interests, goals and hobbies, and embrace exploration. There\u2019s a lot for us to learn \u2014 but we have to be willing to explore it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Have a purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you want out of the mentorship? You don\u2019t need a point-by-point agenda, but it helps to know what you\u2019re seeking. If it\u2019s something concrete like a specific job offer, you\u2019re not likely to reap the full benefits of the experience. Prioritizing human connection over a specific achievement will prove more beneficial in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Build a relationship.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentorship should be about building relationships, not achieving goals. Come to the table willing and able to have a healthy conversation, and you\u2019ll likely form a fulfilling, rewarding relationship. The process should be a slow, gradual build, propelled by finding points of interest and getting to know each other. Unearthing who we are as people and forming interpersonal bonds is much more important than what job someone can help you land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An opportunity for all of us<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret that workplaces look different now. And in many cases, that\u2019s a good thing. But as we embrace flexibility and remote work, we can\u2019t let mentorship or human connection get lost in the shuffle. It\u2019s up to both leaders and non-leaders to reach out and form these bonds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentorship is a two-way street \u2014 and there are opportunities all around us. Leaders should be proactive about seeking mentors and approaching mentees, and more junior professionals should remain curious and jump on new opportunities. The more we learn from each other, the better ourselves, our companies and our world can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to chat? Reach out. Whether you\u2019re in Raleigh or across the globe, I\u2019d love to find time to talk. Wherever you are in life, I think we\u2019ll find it benefits us both.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who is your mentor? Whether one name comes to mind or not, it\u2019s unlikely you\u2019ve gotten where you are without … Continue ReadingMentorship Doesn’t Have to Die with Remote Work<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_social_preview_title":"","wp_social_preview_description":"","wp_social_preview_image":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5774,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions\/5774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/followgreg.com\/ftravel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}