{"id":1140,"date":"2019-07-06T13:26:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-06T20:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2019-07-06T14:19:54","modified_gmt":"2019-07-06T21:19:54","slug":"a-culture-of-mentorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/?p=1140","title":{"rendered":"A Culture of Mentorship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Old-Fashioned Mentoring<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a New World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly\u2026appropriately\u2026\u201dMentorship\u201d is showing up as a subject of discussion, aspiration and recommendation as well as, I think, becoming newly seen as a critical resource in the equation of a healthy, growing and evolving business culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the day, \u201c\u2026find a good mentor\u2026\u201d was more or less standard advice given to young people as we entered the World of Business. Find a mentor to guide one through the hallowed halls of corporations and commerce; that\u2019s how one learns, that\u2019s how one navigates, that\u2019s how one wins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once every two or three weeks, the Mentor would take the Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 (I don\u2019t remember  ever hearing \u201cMentee\u201d before the \u201900\u2019s; though Merriam-Webster says 1965) to an expensive lunch; the conversation during which might include anecdotes, bits of information on the best way to approach a task or job, recommendations for research and reading, offers of introduction to Key Contacts in the (mostly Good Old Boy) network, where to buy suits, advice in response to questions asked and – all in all – pretty much a top-down Bestowing of Knowledge. That\u2019s how it worked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things have changed a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Mentors used to perceive themselves…<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where I\u2019m going: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The definition and perception of \u201cMentor\u201d and \u201cMentorship\u201d must change<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[For purposes of this hypothesis, btw, I\u2019m defining \u201cgeneration\u201d as about 5 years.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n