Lessons Learned: Take the Time to Mentor Your Fellow Organics

In our world of hyper-knowledge and control, something that comes up in
my conversations with others is a thirst to learn more about your craft,
be it creative, engineering, engagement management or any other role.
What marks a strong culture and an environment where "we" as the real
capital of a company want to be an active and enthusiastic part of it is
the investment we have in each other. Sometimes that can be based on
rank, or through a corporate policy, but mostly I find it comes from
watching and listening to each other - regardless of the discipline.
Anyone can tell someone what to do...sometimes called direction or
leadership (positive) or micromanagement and insecurity (negative).
Either way, it isn't what I would call mentoring.

I define mentoring with a two-fold description: the act of caring about
change in yourself and in others.

Being surrounded by smart, enthusiastic, eager people is a fantastic
opportunity for mentorship. While it may appear to be ideal (if
completely unrealistic) to have someone take you under their wing and
both nuture and shield you, we are all responsible for our own
development. Being open to mentorship opportunities can be difficult as
ego, personalities, and assumptions can prevent some from participating.

But I have found when I start to close down or shut off that is a yellow
flag that I have a choice to make. I can either change the flag to red
and stop listening, or I can put the flag aside and see the opportunity
to better myself. Every time I have it has paid off handsome dividends.
I am able to hear a different approach, a new way of thinking about
things, and even find myself gaining new information that I was
completely unaware of. For me learning new things is incredibly
exciting, being told I am a "knowledge worker" means I need to be
conscious that my value comes from creating opportunities to learn more.

What's my point? Well (jeez, tough crowd!), what I am proposing is that
we all take a day each week to practice, and react to things actively,
try to engage those around us and listen to their mentoring of us. It
can come from anyone, anywhere but taking the time to ask questions or
offering a platform for our collegues to talk to us will go a long way
to hearing about how others see problems, interact with their
environment and see what drives or motivates them.

This is about empathy (isn't it always?) but its empathy with
opportunity. I find myself surprised by what others hear me say, how
they react to it, how they respond both positively and negatively. Its
incredible how powerful and impactful we are to those around us, which
only reinforces how much we affect others and how we can be effected by
them.

Would love to know what others think about this - go ahead and use this
as a chance to mentor me.