Are You Mentorable?
Lonnie Pacelli is an Accenture/Microsoft veteran with four decades of learnings under his belt. He frequently writes and speaks on leadership, project management, work/life balance, and disability inclusion. Reach him at [email protected] and see more at ProjectManagementAdvisor.com.
Andrea participated in her company’s mentor program, which matched people willing to be mentors with other staff members looking for one. Andrea was matched up with Randy, who had been told by his manager that he needed a mentor.
Shortly afterward, Randy and Andrea had a first meeting. Things seemed off to a good start, with Randy expressing a few things he wanted to work on. They agreed that they would meet every two weeks and take a checkpoint after three months. Andrea scheduled bi-weekly meetings with Randy on her calendar. So far so good.
Randy showed up for about a third of the meetings, and appeared disengaged when he did show up. Andrea had warned Randy about his spotty attendance and engagement several times. At the end of the first three months, they had their agreed-upon checkpoint.
“Randy, I’m sorry but this isn’t working, we need to terminate the mentoring relationship,” Andrea said.
“What?”
“It sounds like you’re just not at a place where you’re ready to be mentored,” Andrea said.
“But you’re a mentor in the program and my manager said I need a mentor.”
Andrea paused. “That may be true, but you’re not putting in the effort and I’m feeling like my time is being wasted.”
“Sorry, but it’s just been really busy.”
&…
Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.
|
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein |
