All Articles Tagged "mentorship"
Advocate Helps Kids Stay Safe and in School
(Chicago Tribune) — Stevie Powell pulled his maroon minivan to the curb next to a weedy empty lot in Englewood. ”Five minutes,” he warned, as Dimonte Pryor, 19, slid open the door and sauntered to his house. Powell, a big man with a quiet voice and the shambling gait of an overgrown kid, didn’t want any delays. He was driving Pryor and Davonte Flennoy, 19, to a formalwear store to be fitted for prom tuxedos. Powell is not their father. He is their advocate, a key role in the intensive mentoring program that has been a linchpin in the Chicago Public Schools’ vaunted anti-violence initiative. He waited for Pryor. In the back seat, Flennoy idly twisted a lock of hair. Pop. Pop. Powell scanned the street. “Did that sound like shots?” he asked. ”I don’t know,” said Flennoy, unruffled. “Could be someone putting nails on their roof.” Pryor came out, smoking a cigarette. He had changed clothes. Instead of his school uniform polo shirt, he was wearing a white T-shirt bearing the image of a young man with a cocky grin in front of a glowing white gate. Spray-painted letters on the back read, “RIP D-LO.”
How to Find a Business Mentor
(Entrepreneur) — Looking for a business mentor? Leslie Rapp feels your pain–and she’s in the business of solving it. She’s director of training and development at Menttium, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based provider of corporate mentoring services and research metrics on businessmentoring. That’s right. People pay her to mentor them … on being mentors. We asked for a crash course.
- First, think about you, Rapp says. Exactly why do you need a mentor? What do you hope to learn? Then figure out the kind of person who can best inspire you. For example, if you’re starting from scratch, look for a mentor who did, too.
In Chicago, a Mentoring Program Focuses on Role Models for Boys
(New York Times) — For children in blighted neighborhoods, going to college can seem an impossible goal, especially when just making it through grade school is a challenge. Rodzae James, 11, knows his neighborhood is rough, but he feels lucky to have a couple of good role models. “I look up to my brother because he was the first boy on my block to go to college,” he said. Rodzae also admires his mentor, Justen Boyd, a family advocate at Family Focus Lawndale, who specializes in education and restorative justice, an approach to discipline emphasizing collective ways of solving behavioral problems. Instead of bolting out of Goldblatt Elementary School in the North Lawndale neighborhood when the bell rings at 1:45 p.m. on Fridays, Rodzae and four other fifth-grade boys head to the library to see Mr. Boyd. For some of the boys, he is the primary male figure in their lives.
Entrepreneurs Should Get a Mentor
(Businessweek) — If you belong to the 48 percent of entrepreneurs who don’t have a mentor, start looking now. Start simple by thinking about people you know who have been successful or by joining industry networks and your local Chamber of Commerce. During your search for a mentor, be sure to look for the following: 1. The right experience. Every successful person I know is happy to mentor others, myself included. But getting the attention of the right successful person for you can be a challenge. Identifying some common characteristics you share with your desired mentor can help move things in your favor. It can also be really helpful in building a stronger bond between the two of you and, more to the point, creating a willingness in the other person to offer mentorship guidance to you.
A New Way to Meet a Mentor
(Entrepreneur) — Need a mentor? Want to be a mentor? MicroMentor.org is a free online service that connects small-business owners with volunteer business mentors run by Mercy Corps, a nonprofit humanitarian agency. To find a mentor, go to the website, create a brief profile and a specific mentoring request. The request is then listed in the mentoring opportunity database, where volunteer mentors can offer to help (you can also request help from specific mentors). The site has more than 3,500 entrepreneurs and 2,600 business mentors enrolled, and it has made more than 2,250 matches. It also offers advice and information on mentoring relationships and how to make them most effective, as well as a number of success stories.
Be a Positive Mentor to a Younger Professional
Notwithstanding a stagnant economy, new employees are still entering America’s workforce. In today’s work culture, despite the fact that there are relatively more resources when compared to years past, many young professionals find themselves unable to settle in their jobs and to effectively contribute to their company’s bottom line. To be sure, there are some young professionals who are not a good fit for their organization, but there are several who do have the potential and skill set who could succeed with guidance and mentorship.
In a few organizations in corporate America, mandatory mentorship is the normative. However, if you do not work for one of these organizations and you can voluntarily help a younger professional to succeed through your mentorship, knowledge and experience, it is highly recommended that you take the time to provide this guidance. Mentorship is not purposed to be a dictatorship or a negative relationship where one acts condescendingly. In theory, the mentor will use his or her experience to help the younger mentee to understand their job responsibilities in a way that cannot be explained in a book, to discern the culture and do’s and don’t’s and to hopefully prepare the mentee for an advanced position in the future. The mentor will also discover that the mentorship is extremely rewarding as they are helping others and also learning new things as well. Thus, a positive mentorship can prove to be a “win-win-win” relationship where the mentee, the mentor and the organization all benefit. Here at least four ways to become a positive mentor in your organization and to make a positive difference in a younger professional’s life and career: Read the rest of this entry »
What Exactly Is a ‘Coachable’ Entrepreneur?
(NYT) – Previously, Catherine Mott, an angel investor, stressed the importance of investing in “coachable” entrepreneurs who surround themselves with solid management teams. As chief executive and founder of BlueTree Allied Angels in Wexford, Pa., Ms. Mott says she knows one when she sees one. But during a recent conversation, I asked her to try to specify what she looks for when investing in start-ups. A condensed version of our conversation follows.
How to Choose and Work With a Mentor
(New York Times) — AS a small-business owner, you may feel isolated. Without a large organization’s resources, you may long for a sounding board for your frustrations and fears or a discreet, impartial adviser with whom to discuss the tactical and strategic challenges of running a company.
Mentor Slash Lover?
“Wonder Woman Files” is a weekly career column on Madame Noire. Stay tuned for more topics, comment or write us at editors@madamenoire.com if you have suggestions!
“Our meeting was great…but hopefully…he’s not just some sketch-ball trying to be my mentor slash lover.”
This was the scene at a midtown diner, where one of my girlfriends had just finished telling me about a meeting with her mentor. Throughout lunch, she had been telling me how she had finally connected with an older expert in her field- a published author who had conducted research all over the world and taught at some of the best colleges in the country, someone she had long admired, whose books she had read- in fact, someone she had used as a model for the very career path she’s on. And yet, despite how excited she was to have met him, she admitted that she has worried what would happen if he wanted their dynamic to be what many male-female mentorships become: mentor slash lovers.
