Mentoring – From One Generation to the Next
I have two columns remaining as the HGS Bulletin editor and I need to select my topics carefully, as my opportunities to communicate to the membership have dwindled to a precious few. I don’t want to stray too far from my original themes: volunteerism, education, and mentoring. Each topic is important to me and to the future of our profession and the societies that support our science. I will go back to where I began – mentoring.
Mentoring remains a very personal relationship which to some degree is like a marriage and needs to be based on trust. A true mentor-protégé relationship results in the sharing of confidences and commonly deals with issues beyond simply technical training, such as career planning. It provides the mentee with an effective sounding board, and occasionally a shoulder to cry on. A good relationship may last for a lifetime or may end after a number of years. I do not believe that true mentors can be assigned to a professional; rather they are a result of mutual selection.
I was lucky. My first mentor was actually my first supervisor. Some thirty years later we still occasionally get together. To be truly honest, I didn’t totally realize that I had a mentor for several years. Back then, there were no formal mentors, but looking back at the many hours that we sat in his office discussing some of my ideas or a paper that I read, or a dataset that I generated, he truly filled the mentor role. We talked about my career plans and what I hoped to accomplish. No, we didn’t always agree on technical matters or on some of my career decisions, but he was there. In fact, looking back, I remember that Kadry’s door was always open and many of our discussions took place late in the day, very often after most of my colleagues had gone home. While I’m in this nostalgic mood, I will add that I believe he is proud of what I have accomplished and I believe that I represent part of his professional legacy.
Now that I find myself in the mentor role, I continue some of his practices. Although one of the first into the office, I will not go home if a question remains or if someone needs to talk, unless I have an appointment and must make an exit. My door remains open to my three protégés, as well as to the other members of the staff. Rather than providing direct answers to the many questions that I have received over the years, I prefer to guide them through the discovery process and then discuss what they have learned.
However, I’m always there as their backup and safety net, if the pathway to discovery has led them down a blind alley or dead end. My hope remains that I am able to effectively transfer what I have learned over the last three decades to each of my protégés and that each of them will build upon that foundation and surpass me in their accomplishments.
Some may view the mentor-protégé relationship as a one way process. Most can see the advantages to the protégé of these relationships — a teacher, career guide, and an entrée to a professional network. But, I can tell you from my own experience that the mentors gain as well. One of my protégés recently celebrated her fifth year with Chevron and she delivered a note (along with a piece of chocolate cake) which thanked me for all that I’ve done for her. Over the years I have received similar comments from my other mentees. Mentoring has brought me tremendous satisfaction. The most important benefit of mentoring for me is that my protégés will provide a technical legacy, just as my two daughters and my grandchildren will carry forward my bloodline. Even this iron horse will at some point rust out and disappear from the scene.
Why did I select mentoring as this month’s topic? Simply because mentoring is important to all of us. I ask that those of you who have the necessary experience make yourself available to act as a mentor. For those of you new to the game, seek out a mentor.
Remember that the mentor-protégé relationship is personal and cannot be forced. Sometimes these relationships last forever and sometimes they end after a brief few months. They are all valuable and will be a learning experience. Give mentoring a try whether at the office, at a university, or through a professional society’s program.
Until next month…