People First

I've also kept mentoring and still do, mentoring people in particular people of color and women, up and comers, people who have talent, people who perhaps are a little different and could use a little support, and people who have something that I see in them that I feel is worthy of support. I think it's a risk-free way of getting advice and counsel. Importantly, I always find that it's helpful in two ways. I always learn from people I mentor as well and I also ask them for advice, too. And I think important is, first of all, to have a relationship that's grounded in trust, you've got to get to know them not just as professionals but as people. What drives them? What are they worried about? What's going on in their lives? I think that's really important to understand the full person and understand everything they bring to their workdays every single day. And then I think it's important to understand that every mentor relationship is different, so there's no blueprint necessarily because every mentee has something specific that they want to get out of it. So paying close attention to what that is and how you can be best use to them is really critical, and that requires a lot of good and effective listening, first of all, from people who are mentors. And that's not always easy to do for people like me, but really paying attention to what's being said, to what's being felt, to what it really is that they're interested in, I think is a big part of what makes mentorship effective and lasting.