Coaching and mentoring
is extremely important no matter what stage of your career you are in. I never
want to stop learning and I don’t believe any high-performance individual wants
to stop either. I feel that it is important to always want to sharpen your
skills and gain more knowledge; you will never be faulted for wanting to know
more. We now live in a global society which means that we are always changing
at a high rate of speed; having the ability and skills to change and adapt to
what is taking place around you makes you more competitive in the workforce.
Having a coach or
mentor in your professional journey is invaluable. From my experience, my
mentors have been their respected professions for many years and have many tools
that are essential to both personal and professional growth.
At this point in my
career I have had 2 professional mentors and both pushed me to do more, expect
more and never settle for less. Their guidance was not always welcomed (as they
say “the truth hurts”) but it was needed. I have stated in the past that I feel
leaders are born and they are polished up along the way; mentors are like shoe shiners,
they sit you down, talk to you, polish you up and send you on your way. Mentors
and coaches see in you what you don’t see in yourself. We are so accustomed to
looking at ourselves every day that we forget to take a step back and look at
ourselves from a different perspective, mentors/coaches force us to do that and
to reinvent ourselves on a daily basis.
There is nothing more
influential in a person’s life than their family (no matter what kind) just
like there is nothing more influential than a person’s professional career than
their 1st mentor/coach. I don’t think I would be where I am at right
now if it wasn’t for my first mentor. Her name was Shannon Grinstead and she
was supervisor when I first got into higher education. We used to talk about
how I wanted to move up and how I wanted to be in leadership positions where I
could make a difference with students and for students. She knew that I had it
in me to lead because I was slowly taking on those roles from a student workers
perspective. Within 1 year of getting on board with her at the Academic Success
Center located at Hillsborough Community College’s Brandon Campus a new
position was made available and my mentor knew this would be the step I needed
to gain more administrative experience in the higher education world. She also
knew that my new boss would push me to my limits to see what I was capable of
and forcing me to experience professional growth. From that advancement I was
able to obtain a plethora of knowledge that has given me more appreciation for
the career field that I love and it has solidified why I want to be in
education.
The phrase, “thank you”
is never enough when you have a mentor in your life because what they can do
for you spans way beyond the meanings of that phrase. I don’t think I ever
thanked Shannon enough for what she did for me but I hope she knows that she
took at 19 year old student (at that time) and gave her the tools, knowledge
and experience that has forever changed not only my life but also my career
path and for that I am forever indebted to her.
Significance and
importance are not the right words for mentors they are essential, imperative
and eminent for success.
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