{"id":6659,"date":"2016-01-11T23:37:20","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T04:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=6659"},"modified":"2018-08-16T13:25:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T17:25:44","slug":"mentoring-management-from-mayhem-to-merriment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2016\/01\/11\/mentoring-management-from-mayhem-to-merriment\/","title":{"rendered":"Mentoring Management: From Mayhem to Merriment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Courtesy<\/a>
Courtesy of Creative Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I graduated from college, I couldn\u2019t have imagined where my public relations career would take me. I knew what I liked, and through on-the-job experience, I learned what I didn\u2019t like. Every step of the way, however, I relied on a mentor to help me understand my next step and what I needed to do to get to where I wanted to be. Even though there have been times throughout the years where I felt overwhelmed in my career, I am certain that I would have completely cracked without the support of an experienced professional to help guide me.<\/p>\n

After ten-plus years in the workforce, I still have a mentor and I do my best to pay it forward. As I transition to a new phase of my career and start helping students manage their future in public relations, I\u2019ve picked up on a few tips that help to maximize the mentor\/mentee relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do have conversations.<\/b> I am happy to talk to a student for 30 or 60 minutes (or more!), but you can imagine how long it would take to answer every question you have via email. Conversations also allow for follow-up questions and allow for open dialog.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t giggle.<\/b> Of course a sense of humor is important, but keep the nerves in check. Letting out a little laugh after every single thing you say makes you seem immature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do know what you want to discuss. <\/b>General themes are a good start. Maybe we can\u2019t talk about your education, your job responsibilities, your boss, your career path and your plan for professional development all in one call, but we can dig in to one or two of those topics at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t say you\u2019ve already done that, it won\u2019t work that way, etc.<\/b> Have an open mind when a mentor takes the time to provide feedback, guidance and advice. Even though I don\u2019t know every personality and all the specific politics in your office, think about how the overarching information I\u2019m doling out can apply to your situation. Shooting down every suggestion is the best way to lose a mentor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do be mindful of the time. <\/b>If you and your mentor have agreed to talk for a certain amount of time, try to stick to it. If you know you are nearing the end of your scheduled time, simply ask if they have five or ten minutes more to wrap up the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t make me work for your answer.<\/b> I am a-okay if you need to collect your thoughts as we talk. I prefer a pause instead of an automatic blurt-out of \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Think before you speak so we can have a two-way conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do follow up.<\/b> First and foremost, a thank you goes a long way. More than that, though, how is everything going? Did you implement a plan we discussed? Did you have that tough conversation with your boss? Keep the conversation going with your mentor so that you can easily continue discussions.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to your career, take charge. Manage the relationship with your mentor, and you can forge a professional and personal partnership for life.<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>
\nDeAnn Baxter, APR, is a past president of the Lawrence G. Foster Penn State Chapter of PRSSA. With 12 years\u2019 experience in public relations, she now specializes in corporate communications, having worked at such companies as Coca-Cola and Amazon. She is always open to new mentees. Contact her at dlbaxter2003@yahoo.com or on Twitter <\/span><\/i>@DeAnnPgh<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I graduated from college, I couldn\u2019t have imagined where my public relations career would take me. I knew what I liked, and through on-the-job experience, I learned what I didn\u2019t like. Every step of the way, however, I relied on a mentor to help me understand my next step and what I needed to do to get to where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2892],"tags":[2227,2002,679,1865,2405,510,36,360,1540,119,1595,1558],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6661,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6659\/revisions\/6661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}