Recently, Blair Search Partners CEO, Trevor Blair, went live with Kate Lang, Principal of khl consulting as part of our Building a Winning Teams LinkedIn Live series. Kate and Trevor’s conversation revolved around the topic of mentorship—why it matters, how to do it, and what it looks like to develop mentor-mentee relationships both as individuals and in the workplace.
Join us as we dive into the topics they discussed.
Meet Kate
Kate Lang started her career 30 years ago as an educator in Chicago public schools, where her role as a teacher aligned with her propensity toward mentorship. Over time, she left the world of education and navigated a career through numerous industries, ultimately starting her own coaching and consulting business.
Today, Kate is the Principal Coach and Consultant at khl consulting. She offers coaching and mentorship services for professionals working in nonprofits, as well as values-driven and social organizations across the country. She loves her work with people who are striving to live their life according to their values and discovering what it looks like to get curious, show up, and operationalize their values to make big decisions about change, growth, and success.
Kate has had countless mentors throughout her journey, from friendships and peer groups to bosses and formal coaching. She now acts as a mentor and coach for others looking to pave their way in their career and personal lives.
Mentorship Matters
Mentorship is a critical piece of the puzzle when looking at how people build fulfilling careers and lives.
As professionals navigate through different stages of their career in an organization or on their own, having mentors and coaches to turn to—people with an outside perspective—can make a huge difference.
Throughout her own journey from working in a large organization to starting her own practice, Kate had people in her corner every step of the way. She leaned on friendships, her bosses, and formal coaching to help her hone in on what she really wanted out of her career.
“The grass is never greener on the other side,” Kate said. “There will always be challenges. Any time we’re making some decisions about change and growth, it can be incredibly valuable to have a partner or third party, somebody out there listening to you and helping you articulate and clarify what you want.”
Trevor added, “Sometimes people outside of our immediate vicinity know us, professionally, better than we know ourselves.”
Those people can support and challenge you by saying, “You can do this, you have to do this, and I have faith in you.”
When choosing a mentor, Kate shared that she looks for a number of different things. First, she looks for people who live into their values that she both admires and trusts. Second, she seeks out mentors and coaches who fill in areas where she is less naturally inclined.
For example, she loves the coaching element of her practice so deeply, that sometimes the business development element can go underdeveloped. Because she’s aware of this, she works regularly with a coach who is stellar at business development to keep her moving toward her goals on a structured path.
Finding people who are not only in your corner but who have skill sets and expertise that complement yours can help you learn, grow, and be held accountable in areas where you may have some lapses—it’s one of the best things you can do for your professional career.
Mentorship vs. Coaching — What’s the Difference?
According to the International Coaching Federation, coaching and mentoring are two distinctly different things. As Kate shared, though, the definitions sound pretty similar.
Coaching is defined by the ICF as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Coaching is leadership development that’s focused on the client—their aspirations, goals, strategies, and personal alignment. A coach acts as a sounding board for someone as they uncover what their next steps should be.
Mentoring, on the other hand, has more to do with someone who’s an expert at something providing wisdom and guidance based on their own experience. A mentor shares what they know in the hopes of counseling, guiding, or advising their mentee based on what they’ve learned from their own journey. A mentor may say, “This is how I did it,” while a coach might hold a mirror up to someone and assess and observe them to uncover a path of growth or behavioral change based on their own skills.
At the end of the day, both coaches and mentors can help point you in the right direction and act as a sounding board for impactful career decisions.
Finding a Mentor: Formal or Informal?
Finding a mentor does not always need to be formal, especially when looking to friends, peers, and colleagues for guidance. Sometimes time commitments can be a challenge for both mentors and mentees, and occasional coffee meetings can feel like a win-win for both parties.
That said, there are many benefits to entering into a more formalized mentoring relationship with clear expectations, goals, and boundaries. You can seek this out by identifying someone in your sphere who you respect, admire, and trust, and simply asking them, or by participating in a formal mentorship program or process.
Formal Mentorship
By bringing the conversation to your mentor with a proactive transparent conversation, you allow them the opportunity to fully understand the expectations of your time together and readily accept the invitation of mentorship.
A simple request such as, “Hey, I’m new to managing a team and I know you have experience,” or, “I have this particular challenge in front of me for the next 6 months. Would you be willing to meet with me throughout this time to guide me through it?” can not only be a huge compliment to someone, but open the door for clarity about the intended goal for your time together and build parameters around the relationship.
Making your mentoring relationship a bit more formal allows mentors and mentees to:
- Set a clear scope and goals
- Clarify expectations
- Allow for direct communication and preparation
- Provide structure and direction
- Delineate between mentorship time and other time
- Engage in a win-win relationship where everyone benefits
How to Structure a Mentor/Mentee Relationships
When it comes to size, frequency, and format of mentoring relationships, there is no one size fits all. It really depends on the personalities, interests, and goals of both the mentor and the mentee as well as the context of the relationship—whether it’s in the workplace or a more informal sphere.
Sometimes a mentoring relationship can run its course in one, two, or three coffee meetings. Sometimes, a longer timeline is more beneficial. It all depends on what you’re hoping to achieve.
When establishing the parameters of a mentoring relationship it’s important to remember that most professionals are incredibly busy. Committing to a weekly meeting can feel like a daunting and draining task. Finding what works for both parties involved is the key to mutually beneficial mentoring relationships.
Choose a frequency that makes sense for your particular situation. Perhaps monthly or quarterly meetings work for you. Or maybe a time bound structure, such as biweekly meetings for the next six months can help you through a new chapter or specific challenge that you’re facing.
Whatever you choose, as long as your structure matches your situation and works for both parties, you are good to go.
Building a Mentorship Model in your Workplace
Formal mentorship programs in the workplace can be highly beneficial to everyone involved. They can also have a profound impact on employee retention and satisfaction. But they shouldn’t be started lightly.
If you’re looking to launch a mentorship program at your organization, make sure to start by asking yourself why it’s important to you:
- What are you hoping to achieve with this program?
- What needs do your employees have?
- What types of relationships are they looking for and what skills are they hoping to develop?
- Are there people with time in their schedule that are willing and able to devote to a mentoring relationship?
Making sure you’re intentional about the way you craft a program will help it be sustainable and beneficial to employees, rather than just adding another thing to their to-do list.
What you’re looking to avoid is rushing through the process and jumping on the bandwagon to launch a program only for it to fizzle out in a month because it wasn’t well thought through.
Take your time, be intentional, and listen to the needs of your employees to develop a mentorship program that actually works. Great mentorship in the workplace is all about helping employees find their voice and hone their skills. Be ready and willing to hear the types of feedback that come in through the process.
What’s Next
A huge shout out and thank you to Kate Lang for discussing the role mentorship plays in both our personal and professional trajectories and for sharing her knowledge about how to build fulfilling mentorship models and relationships.
Stay tuned on LinkedIn as we continue to meet with top experts in and around the nonprofit sector to discuss relevant issues, grow our understanding of the challenges and opportunities in our workplaces, and uncover the ins and outs of what it takes to Build a Winning Team.
If you’re curious about Blair Search Partners, on the hunt for a new role, or looking to fill positions in your organization, check out our website and let’s see what we can do together!