Special Promotional Feature

By Tony Kirschner

As an Executive Search Consultant, I ask the following question in every interview I conduct: “Over the course of your career, what is the accomplishment about which you are most proud?”

A senior candidate for a recent VP, HR search recently replied, “Seeing all the people I’ve mentored over the years attain positions of prominence in the BC human resources community; it’s a great validation to everything I’ve achieved.”  This kind of selfless answer is far from the exception.  The candidate continued by detailing the central role that being mentored played in kick-starting her career as young HR professional struggling to be accepted in a rough-and-tumble northern BC forestry role.

At Davies Park, we have the rare luxury of carefully reviewing the career histories of a wide array of BC’s top executives on a daily basis.  Without exception, a common theme that unites all of these high performing individuals is the importance being mentored AND being a mentor. It is by no means a one-way relationship. 

Mentoring is the tie that binds business leaders. Therefore, it is not surprising then that the same personality traits that distinguish many executives (drive, initiative, intensity) also characterize the types of people who seek-out mentoring relationships.  HR professionals are busy, and mentoring relationships don’t fall from the sky; you need to put the ball in play.

The Many Dimensions of Mentoring
Mentoring has been an active concept since the days of ancient Greece.  While the practice of mentoring has evolved over the ages, the basic premise remains intact: a purposeful relationship between two (or more) individuals of differing seniority with the goal of furthering the participants’ potential.  Although mentoring is generally assumed to be most valuable to the junior participant, one must not underestimate the benefits gained by the senior party; mentoring is a primary method for senior HR professionals to stay current through the knowledge exchanged with their more junior peers.

As a development tool, the beauty of mentoring is that it has no set formula for success.  Mentoring relationships can be as brief as one feedback session or span decades; they can happen in a coffee shop or via Skype across the globe; they can occur informally in a day-to-day work context or be part of a structured platform such as BC HRMA’s acclaimed Professional Mentoring Program. 

Whatever the arrangement, I have rarely heard mentors or mentees complain about the value of their experience.  As we all know, we learn as much from failure as we do success.

More is more
With the myriad approaches to mentoring available, some may ask, “What is the best kind of mentoring relationship for me?”  My answer  is: “All of them.”  Based on the evaluation of many executive’s backgrounds, I have found that it is typical for successful professionals to have numerous mentoring relationships over the course of their careers, often with several different arrangements occurring concurrently.

It is a myth to assume that one must “find their personal Miyagi”- the dedicated, transformative mentor made famous in the Karate Kid.  Instead, most leaders seek “multiple Miyagis” and greatly benefit from the diversity of perspectives, geographies and engagements. 

Karie Willyerd, former CLO of Sun Microsystems maintains, “It’s not uncommon for people to have many, many mentors.” Having multiple points of contact—each with specific experiences and recommendations—can only improve everyone’s chances of mastering our increasingly complex professional HR landscape.  Participating in a defined, formal mentoring program will bring a very different set of results than an ongoing informal relationship—both are of equal value in the context of career development.

Mentoring Happens
So how does one reconcile the desire to have multiple mentoring relationships, each with its own unique structure, location and duration, with the reality of modern life where we’re all stretched for time? The answer lies in the core trait that defines most executives: initiative.   While it is true that some lucky folks get “the tap” and are selected and taken under the wing of senior leader in an organization, the reality is that the vast majority of mentoring relationships are sought out and initiated by the simple act of asking.  

Seeking out mentoring relationships creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of success.  It takes effort and a bit of moxy to seek out mentors and mentees, and mentoring relationships require continual work to be sustained and developed over time.  Nevertheless, I have seen time and time again the tangible mutual benefits enjoyed by mentors and mentees; taking the initiative to make mentoring happen is a key building block for future achievement.

Tony Kirschner, PhD, is a Senior Consultant at Davies Park Executive Search in Vancouver.  Tony has held HR leadership positions in the healthcare and resource sectors, and has been involved in search and consulting since 1988.

Become a mentor. Apply for the BC HRMA Professional Mentoring Program before October 15, 2012.