Mentorship Matters

Mentorship means a great deal to me.  In fact, I started my professional career at the Mentor Duluth program.  When I made the transition to the construction industry, I was fortunate to have some really great mentors.  The first was Chris, our general superintendent.  He taught me more about the industry than anyone else in that company.  I remember once, I was new to my role and I was speaking at a Field leader training and I used an uncommon word, like “serendipitous.”  Afterwards he pulled me aside and said, “You can’t do that.”  “Can’t do what, I asked?”  “You can’t use language that is going to alienate you from the crew.  You need to be able to connect with them.”  The result is that I now swear like a sailor.  But honestly, that advice is something I still carry with me. 

The other mentor is Mel Olson.  When I started with APi Group, my boss challenged me to reach out to a company president and ask them to mentor me.  I’m not going to lie—that was an uncomfortable task.  I know what a president’s time is worth and, here I was, someone technically outside of his organization, asking him for this precious resource.  Luckily, Mel responded graciously to my ask.  One of the reasons I had chosen to reach out to him was because I had Chris’s earlier advice in mind.  Mel has an engineering background like many of our presidents and it is valuable to hear his opinion on how to frame messages to our leaders to get buy in.    I value the way he questions me to help me think about something from a different angle.  At times, he gives me a boost of confidence when I’m questioning myself.  When I have to stand up in a room full of 100 company presidents and vice presidents and speak, it is reassuring to know I have at least one guy in my corner.  

When I signed a publishing contract, I reached out via email to David LaRochelle, another Minnesota author.  We'd never met but my daughter loves his books.  I said. "Hi David, I'm going to be an author and I have no idea what I'm doing.  Would you be willing to mentor me?"  I was shocked when he responded to my email and agreed to meet me.  He gave me advice on what to expect from my publisher, avenues for promoting a book and resources I could access as an author. 

Oprah Winfrey once said, “A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”  That is something anyone can do!  Each of us has gifts but one of the most valuable gifts we can give someone else, is the gift of our time.  

Construction PPE, photo by Sonderly Photography