Member-only story
Recently I wrote about finding a mentor. More recently, I became part of a project where part of our mission is to provide mentorship services to other people in the profession who need it. We’re still in the middle of discussing how it will be done, but I guess the plan is for everyone who’s on the leadership side of the project to become a mentor. Which I agreed to without hesitation, but when I thought about it, the more I laughed about how unprepared I felt. I mean, I feel like I myself am in need of a mentor because I barely have any idea what I’m doing.
This reminds me of when Leslie Knope was applying to be a mentee for some kind of program and she asked Ron to write her a letter. He mistakenly wrote her a recommendation letter to be a mentor, and it made me laugh because Leslie clearly did not understand just how amazing she already was. Not that she didn’t need a mentor, because anyone can use one. But I’ve been thinking about what kind of mentor I want to be.
I know I have a tendency to be overbearing, but it’s because I’m usually just over-excited. So I want to be hands off enough that I’m not demanding they do something my way, but hands on enough that they feel like they have ideas and options and that they will always have my support.
I know I have a tendency to only communicate the way I want to — I’m not great at being concise, and I tend to talk out loud before I finish fully formulating my thoughts and opinions. So I want to think first, and I want to keep things simple.
