As it hopefully is well known by now, one of the greatest benefits of NACMA membership is the opportunity to engage and connect young professionals and seasoned vets of the industry within the mentorship program. With daylight dwindling down and time moving seemingly quicker and quicker between events, it’s almost impossible to think of reaching out and beginning a new mentorship relationship in the upcoming weeks. However, I would encourage all young professionals to try and set up one new mentorship relationship before the end of the calendar year to both take a break from your everyday grind and to continue to learn and grow within the industry.
Here are some tips in locking down your next superstar mentor and getting the most out of the mentorship program:
You aren’t on an interview, r-e-l-a-x (insert Aaron Rodgers gif here). In setting up my early mentorship relationships, I feel like I viewed it way too professionally. That may sound a little odd, but hear me out. I was so concerned about the professional side of the relationship that I completely missed on the other half, and arguably the more important half, the personal connection between the mentor and mentee. Obviously you’d be mistaken if you didn’t take the chance to learn from your new mentor’s professional experience, but don’t stop there! Learn about their story, what drives them, and what they enjoy doing in their 42 minutes of free time.
Have some strategy to who you reach out to. Take a second to look back on your personal experiences and see what you have been exposed to. What size of department have you worked for? What size markets have you lived in? Have you acquired specific training in one area, or worn many hats? Personally, I recognized that I have had experiences in both small school/small market and big school/big market settings, so I wanted to reach out to mentors who worked and lived in different settings in order to gain that extra insight (shout-out Karina Handeland and Brad Wurthman!).
Never feel like you are a bother. This is another area that I struggled with my first year in the mentorship program. We all know just how demanding this industry can be, so as a young professional in the business, the last thing I wanted to do was be this bright-eyed and bushy tailed kid always pestering my mentor. However, and this goes both ways, if the mentor (or mentee) didn’t want you to reach out to them, they would never be in the program in the first place! As a mentee, take the steps to reach out and establish a communication schedule that works for the both of you and go from there!
Now let’s get to building some great mentorship relationships and powering through the rest of the calendar year!