Mentors Matter

I have benefited from strong mentors in my career and have always strived to pay that both back and forward. At Sharonview, I make sure people know my door is open. I want to be the kind of approachable leader someone feels comfortable asking, “Can I get your advice?”

Many credit unions offer formal mentoring programs. If yours doesn’t, don’t let that stop you from seeking one. Or offering to mentor or be mentored.

How to Find a Mentor

Be bold enough to ask – in person if you have regular or occasional contact with the mentor you seek, or via email or personal note. You might start by giving a little background on yourself and outlining some of your career goals. You could ask if this person has a few minutes to talk to you about mentorship. If they don’t, you might ask them to recommend someone else who may.

Be ready with an answer if the person you approach asks, “Why me?” You should have concrete reasons for why you think the person you’ve sought is the right fit for you. You should know something about that person’s background and career trajectory.

You can also ask your manager or peers to recommend someone. Again, be ready to say what it is you’re looking for in a mentor. Ideally, it’s someone with a reputation for being a caring person, a good collaborator.

Sometimes, a potential mentee has approached me directly – which I always welcome. It’s a huge compliment. Other times, they may ask their manager to approach me. It never hurts to go through those established channels.

What Makes a Good Mentor

When I’ve looked for mentors in my own career, I’ve considered the people I respect. I’ve also looked for people who seemed approachable. If a leader seemed standoffish, he or she wasn’t the kind of leader I aspired to be and probably wouldn’t have been the right mentor.

I always cared about finding a mentor who did more than get results. I wanted someone who got results in the right way. Someone who was obviously concerned about the means and the end. Someone who cared about giving younger teammates important responsibilities and sharing the credit.

In my role as a mentor, one of the best things I can do for my mentees is be available to them. They have access to my online calendar and can make their own appointments with me. They also have my cell phone number and know they can reach me after hours. If you’re really interested in trying to help someone, you make yourself available.

What Makes a Good Mentee

As a mentee, you have to be willing and committed to do the work, to act on the feedback. You’re building a relationship, over time, with your mentor. I might want to bounce an idea off you at some point – or ask your opinion. This is a two-way street.

Sometimes, people think being mentored will automatically land them a coveted position. That’s not how it works. I may be in a position to be helpful, to advocate for you at some point. But I’m not a fairy godmother. Have reasonable, realistic expectations of what a mentor can do.

Meeting Frequency

I usually base how often I meet with a mentee on what they’re looking for, but my general practice is a minimum of once a month – at least in the beginning. You need scheduled meetings to follow up on “homework.” The relationship generally progresses to the point that the mentee checks in on an as-needed basis – for instance, if they’ve got a big decision to make and want a gut check. That’s when I think the mentorship has evolved into what it can be at its best – the mentee has become proficient. They trust their own good judgment but check in on occasion to celebrate a milestone or bounce something off me.

What Mentors and Mentees Discuss

I’ll often begin a mentoring relationship by asking where my mentees see themselves in five or 10 years. But another question I ask – and one that gets overlooked a lot – is: What do you want to be doing right now? If what you’re actually doing now and what you want to do aren’t in alignment, I’ll ask what’s stopping you from doing what you want right now. And then we’ll talk through that.

My mentees and I often build an accountability plan together. We’ll figure out which new skills they need to develop to get where they want to be in the short- and long-term. I’m also interested in their motivations. Why do they want the job they crave? If it’s money, that’s not enough of a reason. I want to see that someone wants to be a leader for the right reasons. It has to be about the people.

I’ll often ask a new or prospective mentee: “What brings you here?” The worst answer is: Because someone told me to do this. If someone told you to do it, that means you’re really not interested; you just needed to check a box. I don’t want to waste your time or mine. If someone says instead they’re in my office because they’re intrigued by X, Y or Z, then we have a place to start. I can’t want this more than they want it.

Sometimes, a mentee may be looking to develop a skill I don’t have. A good mentor knows when to call in backup or to “graduate” someone to work with a new mentor. I may suggest one of my mentees see one of my peers or someone else in a leadership position to develop a particular skill that’s outside my own skillset. Part of being a good mentor is knowing when to point someone in a new direction.

I often ask myself: Am I sitting in the right seat to be helpful to this person? And if not, who is the right person to guide them?

Ideal Number of Mentees to Take On

I don’t think there’s a magic number. I think you have to look at where each person is in their career. That helps determine how much of your time you’ll have to extend. Each relationship requires something different.

You have to look at the needs of the mentee. If a potential mentee is very new and in their first corporate job, that may take more of my time. What are the mentee’s goals? Am I helping this person acclimate to the company? Am I helping them become a leader? Is this person trying to address feedback they’ve received? You have to evaluate what kind of mentoring you’re providing to determine the time commitment required.

Benefits of Being a Mentor

I gain a lot from mentoring. It helps me stay current on what’s really happening in my organization. Those in the C-suite might think a new initiative is going well because they haven’t heard otherwise. Having an open, honest relationship with mentees can help you keep your finger on the pulse of how employees are really feeling. You might either get confirmation that things are getting better, or that there’s still work to do.

Sometimes, I’ll get wind of something that needs fixing, and it’s in my purview to address it. I can create a work group to fix something that I otherwise wouldn’t have even known about. Mentoring can get you out of an ivory tower and put you in touch with all levels of your organization.

Mentoring keeps me close to the heartbeat of the company. It always rounds out my thinking. Having mentees at all levels of the organization helps the leadership team know what’s working and what’s not working as planned. I always want to look at issues from different vantage points than my own. My mentees help me do that.

Rondel Cuyler is Chief Marketing Officer for the $1.8 billion, Indian Land, S.C.-based Sharonview Federal Credit Union.