The art of mentoring

Illustration © SurfupVector| Adobe Stock

We are hearing a lot these days about The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting and Hybrid Workplace Flexibility. Health experts say that unrelenting pressures on personal and professional boundaries and a kaleidoscope of change around family and life responsibilities compound unhappiness, which is exacerbated by pandemic ramifications.

Email, social media and text messaging are further disruptors in our one-on-one interactions, often blurring the lines between what is real and what is interpretation. Health experts say the resultant stress causes worry, frustration and anxiety that leads to dis-“ease.”

And yet, the answer may lie in a technique that is as old as time and as contemporary as a Teams video chat. As American workforce trends lean into empathy as an effective leadership tool post-pandemic, the art of mentoring as a human resource objective is receiving its due.

According to Mentorloop, a cloud-based program management platform, the pandemic caused a 30% increase in mentoring initiatives at organizations. The majority (84%) of U.S. Fortune 500 companies had visible mentoring programs in 2022, Forbes reports. And among the top 50 U.S. companies, 100% have mentoring programs.

Mentoring is one person lending their time and expertise to facilitate another person’s skill and experience — and mentoring is good for business. More than nine in 10 workers who have a mentor say they are happy in their jobs while more than four in 10 workers who do not have a mentor say they have considered quitting, according to a survey by CNBC/SurveyMonkey.

Mentoring – like its cousin collaboration – fosters creativity, cultivates morale and supports employee growth.

Cue the sounding board

A colleague recently asked me the difference between networking and mentoring. It is a fair question because they are closely related and a mentor can come from effective networking. But networking is left-brain. It is about making strategic connections that build and maintain relationships. Mentoring incorporates empathy.

It leads from passion in one’s own career and a genuine attitude of caring for another. Lifting a person up is mentorship. It is broad-based and runs the gamut from a simple, heartfelt “good morning” to genuine interest, encouragement and understanding around a task, situation or decision. Tearing someone down can happen in an instant. Mentoring – lifting someone up – requires conscious effort, especially when you are out-of-your-mind busy.

My uncle was my mentor at the beginning of my career. He worked in the business and understood exactly what experience I would need to grow and develop and eventually become a leader in our company. He mentored me by asking me a lot of questions and by being available as a sounding board. He did not tell me what to do or how to handle situations. By asking questions and by being an active listener, he led me to the answers.

There have been times when our customers have mentored me. These were particularly unique situations, but also amazing. Their efforts to help me grow my skillset benefited them in the long run as we became a more service-driven, customer-centric company.

Which leads me to values.

Mentoring at work

Connections may spring from groups and organizations that specialize in facilitating relationships, such as educational institutions, professional networks and industry associations. But effective mentoring also occurs day-to-day as part of the natural work environment.

I do not believe that people check their personal values at the door when they are at work. Whether you are a mentor or identifying a mentor for yourself, your values will shape your mentoring relationship.

When we are making hiring decisions at our nursery, we consider employee candidates whose personal values are coordinated with our company’s. We also consider the candidate’s potential to become a leader within our business and within in our industry.

Growth through education and service-driven integrity are among our core values. We believe that what we do and how we do it matters now and for future generations. That goes for how we do business, as well as how we train and educate our employees. After all, they are our most valuable resource.

Mentoring is inherent in our commitment to cross-train employees across different departments. This ensures that work can be effectively managed during lean times and in times of transition. It also gives managers and staff one-on-one time to experience different points of view, ask questions, learn from each other and grow in the roles they have at Loma Vista Nursery.

Through a summer-long paid internship program, we mentor college students and young professionals who are exploring green industry careers. First, the interns experience each of our departments and receive one-on-one teaching and coaching from our managers and staff. Then, our team encourages the interns to decide what areas of the nursery they would like to concentrate on during their remaining time with us.

Likewise, our leadership and managers serve on boards and committees and participate in industry programs and events for the growth and learning opportunities they provide. This also enables us to continue growing our own mentor networks.

Collaborations help everyone

Because mentoring relationships require active, two-way listening, mentors and mentees can learn a lot from each other — begging the curious question: who is mentoring whom? In my experience, mentoring others and receiving mentorship is indeed a “two heads are better than one” approach. It encourages problem-solving and develops creativity by exposing both parties to different approaches and ideas.

Coaching skills are needed in management and in leadership. If you are not in management or in a leadership position, you can still practice the skills by mentoring others and by learning from your experience in being mentored.

While it is important to treat people fairly, that does not mean everyone can be treated the same. Know the person and the situation to understand how to listen and lead with empathy. Respond with questions – not solutions – when someone is struggling.

As a mentor once told me – the process is the point. Good mentors facilitate their mentee’s arrival at a solution rather than offering up solutions without asking questions. This is important because there are people who feel that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Actually, it is a huge positive.

Asking for help shows thoughtfulness and caring. People who ask for help do so because they care about adding value to their role. They care about elevating themselves and in doing so they elevate their company and the industry.

Allow others to try new things. The “we always do it this way and this way works” response stamps out creativity and ingenuity for the sake of perfection.

Mentoring within one’s own trade – like with Loma Vista Nursery’s internship program – elevates the industry by helping create future leaders. Mentoring outside the industry is the form I like best because it is “outside the bubble.” In my experience, relationships that span industries can be powerful because they provide fresh perspectives and a greater understanding of the bigger picture.

Network of mentors

Mentoring is simply giving someone a chance. It is making sure they know you are there to help when needed and to ensure a soft spot to land in if they fall. Shared communication about expectations, as well as defining goals for the relationship and setting boundaries are important. So is measuring progress.

As I look back on my own career – as you may find with yours – there is a thread from my earliest mentors to where I am today. I was fortunate to have my dad and my uncle as mentors. But when my uncle passed away in 2010, I felt lost because I relied on him as a friend and confidant. I was still very early in my career and I really needed a mentor who was not a family member.

So, I got intentional. And what I found – back then – is that we needed more women mentoring women. We still do. The perspective that a woman mentor has is valuable to other women. That is why it is refreshing to see our industry begin to create opportunities for women to connect. A good example of this is AmericanHort’s Women In Horticulture programming.

Today, some of my closest friends are owners and operators of family businesses and they are powerful career women. These are my trusted advisors – I call them my network of mentors – that I turn to for advice, consolation and empathy. I found that the effort you put into building your network and finding the right mentors will pay back 10-fold. Low effort will result in lesser payback.

I believe that if you take an active interest in people, you will know when they can offer mentorship to you in your career, even though they may not necessarily be your industry colleague. My network of mentors was especially helpful during COVID. I learned a lot from those who had businesses in similar situations. So, anytime there is an unknown you can trust your network of mentors to help you get through it.

As you may have guessed, I also believe that mentors are not just for young people. You may very well need a mentor when your career is well established. Asking your network for help is always a good starting point. And if you do not have a network of mentors, now may be the time to get intentional about building one.