CHICAGO–Within the credit union community there is often talk of the value of mentoring: but who mentors the mentors?
Kathryn Minshew, the cofounder and CEO of The Muse, a website that lists jobs, company profiles and career coaching services as well as articles and videos with professional advice, is offering some mentorship for mentors.
According to Forbes.com, when Minshew talks about her own growth and development, her expansive view of mentorship stands out. “Throughout her career -- which has spanned foreign service, public health and tech startups -- she’s turned to colleagues and connections to help plan her next step,” Forbes reported.
In an interview with Forbes, Minshew observed that “What I think is really interesting is people talk a lot about finding a mentor, but most people have a very narrow conception of what that is. It's a generally older, more successful person, who can take them under their wing and show them the way.”
Minshew told Forbes she doesn’t discount traditional mentors, but added, “I think it's much more helpful to think expansively about people in your network who can mentor or help you in different ways.”
Minshew told Forbes she has also found “outsider” mentors — contacts who have a similar role in a different industry, or a different role in her own industry — “can often provide a completely different perspective and can help you challenge the conventional wisdom.”
Among Minshew’s other advice:
- Assemble a Rotating Board of Advisors
Once you have a diverse mix of mentors, Minshew recommends choosing the right person for the challenge at hand. “I probably have a small number of people that are consistently advisors and mentors, but I'm much more likely to have a broader array of ... almost like an unofficial board of advisors, where I know that certain people are going to be good for certain types of topics.”
- Get Vulnerable
The catch is, to get really good advice, Minshew said, is you need to be really honest about your challenges. “I tend to find you have to be fairly vulnerable to get something ... to get a perspective worth having. Which can be controversial. But I find telling someone what you're thinking about, what you want and what you're afraid of, can often help them give guidance.” For the full Forbes story, go here.