Mentoring in the Moment - Dan Gaynor

Dan Gaynor

I had the opportunity about five years ago to get together in Calgary, Alberta with Dan Gaynor of Gaynor Consulting Inc.  I asked Dan, and he very generously made time in his schedule to provide a few thought on the topic of Mentorship. 

Dan brings a wealth of experience to this topic and has been on both sides of Mentoring relationships over his career. Dan’s comments were captured in a short video interview on my YouTube Channel, and I’d encourage you to watch it, after reading this post. They fit very nicely with the article that follows. You'll find a link to the video further below.

On January 1, 2016, Dan shared a post on LinkedIn, and with his permission, I’m pleased to extend this post to those in my circle of contacts. The post was called: “Mentoring in the Moment” (Sourced at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mentoring-moment-dan-gaynor ) It provides a positive perspective on what a mentoring relationship could be – certainly something worth trying to cultivate between a Mentor and Mentee. 

Now, enjoy this 'repost' from Dan Gaynor, and feel free to share your comments! 

 

Mentoring in the Moment

Mentor: An experienced and trusted advisor and guide

Mentoring receives a lot of attention these days and rightly so. Good mentors inspire us to reach for our potential. They encourage us when we need it and guide us along the path, passing on what they have learned in going there before us. Mentors build relationships that are often remembered fondly for many years.

Like so many other good practices though, we have over the years systematized mentoring in ways that have created onerous expectations and made it less appealing. Chief among these is the expectation that good mentoring must be regularly scheduled. My experience with mentoring runs contrary to this. The best mentoring is much more an organic exercise.

I would say that I have benefited from two mentoring relationships over the course of my professional life. Neither was systematic or forced. Both would be best described as mentoring in the moment. In both cases there were not all that many mentoring moments, however both individuals contributed in valuable and memorable ways to my development as a leader. Both met my criteria for mentoring. We had a warm relationship that became a friendship. They enjoyed teaching; I enjoyed learning from them. Both were trusted advisors, and when we did meet, we enjoyed our time together.

I remember well the day I went to Don Babick (then publisher at the Edmonton Journal) to present my work in redesigning our sales territories. I’d put a lot of work into the project, coming up with three progressive levels of sales positions: entry, intermediate and expert. I had developed a more complicated solution than was necessary. Don listened then offered his thoughts, “Dan I think you are making this more complicated than it needs to be. I think you should just make sure you know what a good sales rep has to be able to do and make sure they can all do it.” Then he added, “Most people think the ability to handle complexity is a sign of intelligence. The really smart people take what’s complex and make it simple.”

It was a mentoring moment that has remained with me over the years and shaped my approach to thinking and problem solving. Over the years there were other encounters and other lessons. Every now and then I find myself quoting something Don said to me, passing on what he gave me to the leaders coming after me - this is classic mentoring. We had no formally arranged systematic approach and we didn’t meet in a formal mentoring program. Our mentoring was infrequent and yet still important. It was natural. Today, many years and lessons later, I am more often in the role of mentor. Many of the best relationships I have enjoyed have been this way, more mentoring in the moment. Sometimes with people I no longer work directly with, years pass between moments. With others the encounters are closer together. Always there is a relationship.

It seems to me that systematized mentoring often misses the mark. Forcing relationships and timetables doesn’t work. We discourage potential mentors and disappoint everyone involved. Instead, let’s encourage a more natural approach. My bet is we’ll have a more more successful and satisfying experience.

Want to go deeper on leadership? Check out my book, The Heart and Hands of Leadership: The Twelve Timeless Practices of Effective Leaders, available in soft cover and in all major e-book formats. I wrote it to equip leaders at all levels with practical and powerful skills. Or check out the half-day workshops and keynote speeches I offer.

Discussion questions:

1. How many mentors have you benefited from over the years?

2. How did the relationship begin and evolve?

3. What were the most memorable lessons learned from the relationship?

Thank you Dan! Now, let me encourage those reading right now to consider their responses to the discussion questions that Dan’s listed.

Curious?  Here are my answers:

1) I’d have to say that I’ve found benefit from every mentoring relationship that I’ve had. That’s one of the reasons why I feel mentorship offers entrepreneurs such great value.

2) I’d tend to agree with Dan observation and would say that most of my mentoring relationships have been informal and grew over time. Still, I believe there’s much to be gained through an intentional and planned mentoring relationship. With that, it needs to be recognized that a certain amount of flexibility needs to come into play, so that the schedule doesn’t become a point of contention between those involved.  

3) One of the most memorable lessons I’ve learned from a mentor is that when you’re in business, you have to look after the needs of your customer, and you need to take care of that relationship better than your competition if you’re going to stay in business.

Thank you once again for sharing these important Mentoring insights with us Dan. I think you’ve underscored the importance of building what would be seen as a great, trusting relationship – one that allows for the candid sharing of our individual hopes, as well as our fears. 

And to quickly acknowledge the other side, as I’ve noted in my response to Dan’s second question, I’ve come to appreciate the value of Mentorship that takes place with an intended development and growth objective.  

Flexibility is most important and should flow naturally when there is mutual respect between the participants. Putting a workable structure into place helps to guide the relationship and addresses the desired outcomes both participants hope to achieve.

To close, something I’ve shared with my contacts: “It’s great to HOPE for things to get better – but we really need to PLAN and take ACTION for it to happen!”

CLICK HERE to view my video interview with Dan Gaynor on Mentorship.

 

Let us know if you'd like to further explore mentorship for your organization or business. 

We welcome your comments to this Post.

 
FYI: If you’re interested in business, we invite you to access the FREE information on our Business Success BLOG as well the many FREE videos on our YouTube Channel. You'll find a wealth of helpful suggestions on both Mentorship and Business Success.  ALL of these can all be accessed from the "Resources" tab on our website at: www.pvs4u.ca