Some
Thoughts on the Value of Mentoring
By Laura Trejo *
Question: What
can you do that will help you most advance your career in international trade?
Answer: Help
someone else fulfill his or her dreams and goals. I call this:
Life Lesson #1: The Rule of Karma says that your actions and conduct have a cause and effect relationship to what happens in your life.
Therefore, you offer to give away what you seek to attract into your life. If you want help in advancing your career, seek to help someone else in his or her career aspirations. You are never too young or too old to start mentoring. One of our youngest mentors, Katie Wiehagan of Booz Allen who had two mentees for the 2005 spring session, has only been out school for about six years.
Without exception, I have received at least as much value from mentoring, both informally and in formal programs, as have the people who have my sought advice. This brings me to:
Life Lesson #2: Live with the intention that every person or event (good, bad, or indifferent) that crosses your path is here to teach you something about yourself.
Mentoring entails encouraging mentees to reach their full potential in ways they may not have thought possible for themselves. Drawing on baseball as an analogy for mentoring, Reggie Jackson said it best:
I'll tell you what makes a great manager: a great manager has a knack for making ballplayers think they are better than they think they are. He forces you to have a good opinion of yourself. He lets you know he believes in you. He makes you get more out of yourself. And once you learn how good you really are, you never settle for playing anything less than your very best.
I have never had the benefit of a mentor in my career. There has not been a plethora of role models. There were and still are not a lot of Hispanic female international attorneys out there. Most of what I have learned has been through trial and error. Mentoring has forced me to access what I wished someone had told me when I first started my career and to pass it on to people who have sought my advice.
Yet I have also found that people who have sought my advice have provided me with invaluable perspectives and insights-whether it is information about a coveted professional executive development program, or the encouragement to get published from a mentee with a significant publishing track record. Every person, regardless of their age or the stage in their career, has a unique perspective to offer on your own goals and aspirations.
Just Do it
Some WIIT members may be hesitant about mentoring because they are unsure how to mentor, or they believe they have nothing to offer. I recently attended an event that featured Eric Liu, author of a book on mentoring called Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us Toward Our Purpose in Life. He spent two years interviewing people to find out what life-changing mentors and teachers do that makes them so transformative. He identified five strategies. See www.guidinglightsnetwork.com or www.ericliu.com. The central premise of the book is that we are all teachers. In his interviews Mr. Liu asked two questions: 1) Who influenced you? 2) How have you passed it on?
So my challenge to my fellow WIIT members, and especially those mentees who have already benefited from the WIIT mentorship program, is:
What Have You Done to Pass it On?
*Laura Trejo served as WIIT Professional Development Mentor Chair for the 2004-2005 programmatic year.
* * * *
Testimonials From WIIT Mentors & MenteesFrom WIIT Mentors:
I would like to encourage all WIIT members who are more established in their careers to participate as mentors in WIIT's program. I have mentored two young women and hope that they got as much out of it as I did. I look back on my career and wonder how different it would have been had I had a mentor at some point along the way. Many young and dynamic women need our help to achieve their potential in this field. I feel pleased that, if nothing else, I have helped my mentees to identify which areas of international trade to pursue or helped them build a good network. It has been a rewarding experience for me.
Thanks
J. Nicole Bivens Collinson
Vice President, Trade Negotiations & Legislative Affairs
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
* * * *
Being a WIIT mentor has been a constructive opportunity for me to help others and to improve my own career development. In becoming a mentor, my goal was to share my experiences and to encourage people to pursue "cool" careers. I hoped that I might help one or two people avoid the pitfalls that I encountered on my own career path. But as I became involved with the process, I realized that helping others is only part of the mentoring experience. Being a WIIT mentor has also helped me to focus on my own career development. Not only am I building new relationships with trade professionals, but I'm also using my network and staying in touch with friends and colleagues. When I sit down to talk with my mentees about their career development, we frequently discuss principles and approaches that I can apply in my own career planning. It is truly a "win-win" experience for all those involved.
We all have something we can offer our WIIT colleagues, and it really doesn't take much time. A WIIT mentor experiences the reward of helping others to develop good ideas and strategies for their careers. It's also a great way to stay focused with your own goals. I highly recommend the WIIT mentor program.
Katherine Wiehagen
Booz Allen Hamilton
* * * *
It has been an honor to participate in the WIIT Mentoring program. Since joining WIIT myself as a newcomer to Washington over eight years ago, I personally have enjoyed the exposure to role models in the trade community. Participation in the mentoring program allows me to give back to new members in our profession -- sparking future women leaders. In fact, through the mentoring program, I am learning as much from our "mentees" making it an equally rewarding opportunity. I hope that others who have learned so much from the established community will continue to pass the torch and bring more capable, energetic and creative women into the trade.
Angela Marshall Hofmann
WIIT President, 2005-2006
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
* * * *
From a WIIT Mentee:
When I joined WIIT, I was interested in making the career transition from being a pure International Technology specialist to becoming a professional in the field of International Trade. The challenge for me was to narrow down my entry options and to explore possible career paths. As I found out, figuring out moves on my own would have been a daunting task. The WIIT Mentorship Program provided invaluable assistance to me in my career search.
The program suitably addresses the type of problems people face when they are either right out of college or want to make an entry into a professional area in which they have strong interest but know little about. Specifically, the WIIT Mentorship Program provided me with the in-person interaction that I needed with a seasoned specialist who closely considered my educational background, work experience, and professional interests. I was given competent advice on how to improve my chances of being hired, what organizations could be interested in me, and possible career trajectories in International Trade. I strongly recommend the program to all those considering a career in the field.
Ruben Saroukhanian
Towson, Maryland
Adjunct Faculty, Strayer University