When it comes to mentoring, I don’t think it should be a one-way process. As a mentor, I don’t believe in telling people how to do things. The whole purpose of mentoring is to be a good role model such that your mentees can observe what works well and what doesn’t.
Some of the best mentors I’ve had in my IT career, and those who I try to emulate, were always asking me what I thought. As a result, it seems natural to me to ask my mentees what they think.
One of my favorite expressions is, “This isn’t a democracy, it’s a benevolent dictatorship.” What that means in terms of mentoring is that you have a right to tell me what you think. In fact, I insist on it. I might not do what you say or what you suggest, but it’s a starting point. If it’s a great idea, I’ll make sure we do it and that you get credit for it. If I don’t want to go in that direction, I will explain why, so that you learn the rationale, which may be something you haven’t thought about. Or maybe you can find a weakness in my logic, and maybe I’ll change my mind. Then it potentially can be a learning experience for both of us.
Read, "The Mentor: continuing a great IT tradition" by Cynthia Stoddard
Cliff Tamplin is a consultant and former vice president of Technology Support & Risk Management at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Tamplin has held a variety of roles with major global corporations including Barclays, M&M Mars, Diageo, Northwest Airlines and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. These roles have spanned application design and development; infrastructure architecture and operations; and information security.
