Mentorship

FountainBlue’s First Annual Mentorship Awards event, part of the When She Speaks series, was scheduled for November 1.

Our mentorship awardees this year had a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, but each had much in common:

• they each valued the input of the mentors from an early age and on an ongoing basis;
• they worked with their companies to create a program which support dozens and even hundreds of men and women;
• they each continued to mentor others as they themselves advanced in their careers;
• they are each committed to continuing to mentor others, on top of their immense work responsibilities, community commitments, and the day-to-day joys and challenges of a busy family.

Our panelists agreed on the short term and long-term benefits of mentorship. Mentors can help solve current problems, but they can also help with longer-term gains building confidence, expanding perception, providing support, especially when times are tough.

 

There are many reasons to become a mentor. Not only is it personally satisfying, but also supports the professional development of mentees, but also the team and organization as a whole. Mentoring is a great way to give back – to your team, to your company, to your community, to the next generation. 

 

Below is a summary of mentorship best practices.

• The mentoring relationship is a dynamic one – the needs of both mentors and mentees change over time. Clear communication from both sides help ensure productive interactions between mentees and mentors.
• One goal from a mentorship relationship is to develop a ‘thicker skin’, so that the mentee is more resilient and confident even if an environment is less than ideal.
• Mentors can successfully mirror behavior or attitude of the mentee, so that she/he can better understand how others are responding to them.
• There are many different kinds of mentors and mentoring relationships. Just because you have a technical mentor doesn’t mean that you don’t also need a mentor to help navigate a new role, for example.
• Mentors can help filter messages and information, so that you focus on what’s important and use your time most wisely.
• Mentor people at all levels, not just those designated as ‘high-potential’. Even if the mentee never gets into management levels, that mentee would have more influence and more confidence in whichever level they’re in.
• With that said, make sure that both mentors and mentees are willing participant. It doesn’t work to mandate a mentor-mentee relationship.
• Have specific criteria if you’re matching mentors and mentees, and have direct communication to ensure that both parties continue to benefit from the connection.

Every speaker remarked on how important it was to develop our people, our relationships, and how mentorship is a critical tool to grow everyone at all levels at scale.

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Please join me in congratulating FountainBlue’s 2019 Mentorship Honorees.

• Amber Barber, Sr. Manager Business Operations Management, Lam Research
• Serpil Bayraktar, Distinguished Engineer, Chief Architect’s Office – Development, Cisco
• Christina Lewis, BU Controller/Director, Enterprise Finance, Western Digital
• Ronit Polak, VP, Quality Assurance, Palo Alto Networks
• Kavita Shah, Senior Director, Strategic Marketing, Nova Measuring Instruments

Thank you also to our hosts at Lam Research, to Erin Yeaman, Managing Director of HR, Lam Research and to Mike Snell, Vice President of Operations, Global Operations, Lam Research for their introductory remarks. 

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