I'm part of a Startup Chicks here in Atlanta. Six months ago "startup chick" was never a title I would have assigned to myself, but being part of the ever-evolving team at The Iron Yard has encouraged me to embrace the mindset. Every month a refreshing group of women gathers for breakfast, coffee, and inspiring conversation. Seriously, every time we meet I am challenged to think critically about how I approach my work and my life. It's an amazing thing.
October's session on mentoring was led by Nikki Nixon, Marketing Technologist extraordinaire for a startup called SalesLoft. The term "mentor" seems to get tossed around a lot, and Nikki put some specific parameters on it that helped me wrap my head around the concept better. Plus, it got me hungry for a mentor!
First and foremost, an important element of the relationship is transparency and accountability, on the part of both parties.
Nikki suggested seven qualities that she looked for in a mentor. Someone who is:
Already successful
Brutally honest
Trustworthy
Comfortable with transparency
Willing to make the time to help
Positive
In her network
If you don't have a network, you should create one! Believe it or not, online tools liked LinkedIn and Twitter can be great ways to connect to people in your field who you respect. You can use them to identify people who you already consider informal mentors. It's also important to consider people who have a different perspective from you!
When you reach out to someone, be specific and know what you want to accomplish. Have a plan in mind for working with your mentor, but keep in mind that the plan could change.
Be selective in choosing your mentor. Don't just choose a mentor for the sake of having a mentor. Make sure they have your best interests in mind as well.
As you're considering a mentorship relationship, examine the situation through the lens of "What do I have to lose?" 9 times out of 10, you have less to lose than you think you do.
Do you have a mentor? What are your tips for a successful mentoring relationship?
Working at The Iron Yard puts time management skills in stark perspective. Every day I watch our students dedicate countless hours to honing their skills. Heads down at their laptops, in small groups hashing out problems, and hours gleaning wisdom from their instructors. It's only three months, but it's still three months! Three months of shifting around priorities, foregoing some usual activities, focusing hard on one thing for twelve solid weeks, which are soon drawing to a close for our Rails and Mobile Engineering students.
I was reminded the other day of Stephen Covey's quadrant system for organizing priorities and tasks, and I thought what an interesting illustration it was for dedicating the time to learn to code...
I'd say that the Urgent & Not Important quadrant is the hardest to stay away from. It's easy for tasks that don't necessarily contribute to the longer-term goal to take on urgency when you're overwhelmed: the pile of dishes at home that isn't hurting anyone but is cluttering your mental space feels like a pressing job to tackle. I can only imagine how things like that might loom large when you're in the throes of coding but also still trying to live your family life.
Homework might become Urgent & Important for our students at the eleventh hour, when it's due soon and there's a bug they still haven't figured out. But ideally, I hope that our students have the chance to get comfortable in the Not Urgent & Important quadrant. I think that's where the magic happens. Developing the muscles to strategically approach problems. Laying the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Learning the tactics that help you think like a software engineer.
On campus, it's my role to take of the Urgent & Not [Necessarily] Important tasks: making sure there are markers for the dry erase boards, arranging food for meetups, day-to-day logistics and scheduling. By keeping operations running smoothly, I hope I make it possible for our students to thrive in Quadrant II. I have the utmost respect for the risk they're taking by jumping in wholeheartedly and I love playing a part in their stories.
