On November 16th,  PMIT’s Edward Johnson led an open session called “Mentoring Connections”.

The first of its kind, the session provided an in-depth look at PMI Toronto’s two mentorship opportunities - the Career Accelerator Program (CAP) and the Professional Mentoring Program¹. Insights on the professional value-add of mentorship, and the attributes of successful mentor-mentee relationships came via five brilliant mentors and event speakers: Vera Cvetkovic, Lorenzo Gutierrez, Karthik V. Srinivasan, Siddharth Sathe, and current PMIT president Jeffrey Thompson.   

 

Who Should Participate

in Mentorship?

Everyone! 

Research tells us that people with mentors perform better, advance in their careers faster, and experience more work-life satisfaction. Mentors benefit too, by advancing their knowledge, sharing their experiences and giving back to the profession through volunteering. At PMIT we break prospective mentees into four groups. Anyone seeking professional development can find themselves in one of these categories:

1. Newcomers - those who are new to the profession
2. Career Changers - those who are trying to change careers 
3. Ladder-er - those aspiring to upward mobility at their current company 
4. Lateral-er - those aspiring to a different, but lateral career move

 

OK, So Mentoring is the

Same as Coaching, Right?

Not quite! While coaching is a direct exercise to mould an individual in a particular way, mentoring is facilitated guidance. 

As Karthik addressed in the session, a mentor is like a mirror that shows you your potential and your capabilities. However a mentor will not directly tell you what you should do in the same way that a coach, who has a stake in you, might do. 

In order for mentorship to be successful, the mentee must have a few clearly defined goals of what they would like to achieve going into the mentorship relationship. Siddharth also explained that part of mentorship is managing expectations. Sometimes mentees want quick answers or actions, but success is not achieved overnight, and sometimes you have to change your strategy multiple times before you achieve your goals. A mentor will help guide you along your chosen path.

Mentoring is guided, which means the mentee drives the agenda.

Vera & Karthik, two of the guest mentors, shared their understanding on the differences of coaching vs mentoring, as:

“Coaching is when someone has a stake in you e.g. “I'm your boss and I need results out of you”, whereas Mentoring is holding up a mirror to show you the potential you are made of, shows you who are; like a catalyst – starts the chemical reaction, but then doesn’t get involved”.

- Coaching is direct, and can have formulas or plays e.g. imagine a basketball coach drawing up plays for the team. Mentoring is indirect – it is about guiding, but the motivation comes from the mentee not the mentor.

- Coaching is sometimes win-win, your coach guides and moulds you in their shape and the way they desire.

Additional information about the difference between Coaching and Mentorship can be found here.

 

Characteristics of a Successful

Mentorship Relationship

Throughout the evening, the mentor panel discussed what characterized great mentorship. Vera highlighted the value of great listening skills and building a relationship based on two-way communication. Secondly, she talked about the need to build a strong foundation for the mentorship relationship, being open-minded and removing any barriers to openness and trust. “Starting good doesn’t mean that you will finish good, but it will help you to navigate any challenges and obstacles that may occur. It will also help you to do your best to finish the relationship successfully.” Karthik echoed Vera’s sentiments: “I approach mentorship like a child. I want to know more and understand deeper. I listen to my mentee deeply with intent: first to learn about them and then to consider how I can add value to them.”

With over 10 years of mentoring experience, Vera spoke about mentees that she has remained in contact with throughout the years and how mentoring builds a community of learning, locally and even globally, where you can continue to share lessons learned and successes. 

 

Benefits as a Mentor

Throughout the evening, mentors highlighted how mentorship has enriched them personally. 

“Learning is a journey, not a destination,” said Karthik. “Mentoring allows you to teach others what you know, which reinforces your own knowledge. Knowledge is the one thing, where you do not lose anything, the more you give of it.” 

For Lorenzo, seeing the success of his mentees and giving back to the community, has given his life meaning and purpose. Lastly, Jeffrey shared how mentoring has taught him patience and expanded his worldview, allowing him to acknowledge and address different learning styles, cultures, and values, while learning about various industries and companies.

Takeaways