Mentoring – Enhancing Your Career by Deborah J. Hodges
This article is the first in the series of seven articles on the value of mentoring and its relationship to a successful career. This article introduces the current year’s goals of the National Mentoring Committee and the upcoming articles and initiatives.
In the last few years, the National Mentoring Committee has been working to develop the best mentoring program for SMPS members. Your best interest has been our highest priority. Our commitment remains strong to provide you with a great program. We have an official name for the mentoring program- Mentoring Pathways. You will see this name throughout the series of articles.
This year’s goals are to provide you with a series of articles on mentoring, begin a website page with informational resources for you, research other mentoring programs and make a formal recommendation on the type of mentoring pro-gram to the SMPS National Board of Directors. The SMPS National Mentoring Committee’s focus is to provide you with a mentoring program that meets your present needs, promotes career development, and provides for your continued growth.
Mentoring is a readily accepted concept that is prevalent today in many organizations like the AIA and in many companies. We do know that career success and mentoring are interconnected with each other. In 2001-2002, I conducted the SMPS Foundation Study,” The Role of Empowering Marketing Professionals.” It was found that mentors and mentees benefited from exchang-ing ideas, gained confidence, and became more interested in continuing education. Likewise in other research, it is well documented that leading professionals have greatly benefited and attributed much of their success to mentoring at some point in their careers.
We do know that career success and mentaing are interconnected.
In the book Quotations on Education by educator Margaret Mead, she wrote “Man’s most human characteristic is not his ability to learn, which he shares with many other species, but his ability to teach and store what others have developed and taught him.” What you learn today will pro-vide you with that “epiphany” or “ah hah moment” later! Whether you are early in your career, a mid-level manager or a senior-level executive, mentoring is critical to developing talented people at every level. Being mentored or mentoring another person enhances career success.
Here is a brief snapshot of the articles that are coming to you in the next few months.