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The Apochromatik Guide to Mentoring: Part III – The One Thing You Must Do to Make the Most of a Formal Mentoring Program
Not everyone is involved in formal mentoring programs, but we’ve had several requests to address how to make them more worthwhile.
Before we jump into that topic, though, January is National Mentoring Month, so we’ve talked about mentor and mentee expectations, and about differences between sponsors, mentors, coaches, and friends. Later this week we will tackle the three types of mentors that every professional needs to succeed, but if you can’t wait to get started strengthening your own mentor relationships, download the Apochromatik Mentor Finder tool by joining the Apochromatik email list.
Back to how to make the most of a formal mentoring program.
The Apochromatik Guide to Mentoring: Part II – 8 Things Mentees and Mentors Want
Last week we addressed the differences between mentoring, sponsorships, coaching, and friendships, and delved deeper into mentoring. This week, we’ll focus on what mentors and mentees want from each other. When mentors and mentees have differing expectations, problems can crop up in the relationship or, even worse, cause it to fall apart completely. By understanding what your counterpart wants, your relationship can be positive and productive for both of you.
The Apochromatik Guide to Mentoring: Part I – Distinguishing between Mentors, Sponsors, Friends, and Coaches
Mentoring is often touted as a solution to problems in the workplace, from retention and promotion of women and people of color to increasing camaraderie and overall job satisfaction. While mentoring is not a panacea, it is a tool that can, through thoughtfully designed programs and invested participants, move the needle on all of those. But, while Apochromatik’s services include working with employers to design mentoring programs and ensure they’re effective, not everyone has quite figured out that they need us. (Side note: if your employer’s mentoring program needs our advice, or if you’re involved in a non-profit with a mentoring program that could benefit from a quick training for mentors and mentees, let us know.)
As we launch this series on mentoring, this week we’ll address the difference between mentors, sponsors, friends, and coaches. In future posts we’ll address tips to be a good mentor, tips to be a good mentee, the three types of mentors you need in your career, and more – all to help you find and foster the kind of mentoring relationships that can help you succeed.
Don’t make resolutions, and 6 other tips for success in 2019
Tuesday wasn’t magical.
There, I said it. Yes, the new year is exciting – time to turn the page on 2018, and look forward to the blank slate of 2019. If your inbox is like mine, you probably had an onslaught of emails Tuesday and Wednesday with subject lines like “New Year, New You,” “New Year, New Discoveries,” or my favorite: “New Year, New Shoes” (because evidently, the 2018 me is good enough, but my shoes aren’t?!).
But beyond the emails trying to get us to whip out our credit cards, the new year is a good time to reflect on last year and think about how we’d like the next year to be different. Here’s the catch, though: You probably tried that last year, yet all of the new shoes in the world won’t help you make progress on your goals in 2019. Instead, you need a dose of reality, and what we call the CAN-DO Formula.
Apochromatik's 2018 Top Ten Blog Roundup
2018 was a busy year. Now it’s almost in the history books.
So what better time than the last ten days of the year, when offices are a bit quieter and like seems to slow down just a bit then to take a moment to catch up on some great reading that you had every intention of getting to all year?
How Listening to Leslie Knope Changed My Life
“As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people’s ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”
- Amy Poehler
Three years ago, I didn’t know what a mastermind was. Today, I know that my accomplishments over the last two years are attributable in many ways to the focus, accountability, and development that a mastermind provided. In short, Amy Poehler (or, as I prefer to think of her, Leslie Knope) is right. Let me back up.
Video of the Week...Tuesday, December 11, 2018 (Live!)
The Video of the Week is postponed to Thursday again this week. Apochromatik will host a Facebook Live on Thursday, December 13, at 3:00 p.m. central (4:00 p.m. eastern) for a live discussion about 2019 and what you can achieve in the year ahead.
2019 is the year you will set and achieve goals and play bigger than you ever thought possible. We will show you how.
Log in to the Apochromatik Facebook page for the live event.
In the meantime, please take a look at Amy M. Gardner’s live video announcing Future In Focus 2019!
Make 2019 Different (and by Different I mean Great)
Everything old is new again. What popular 1930’s trend is back in vogue today?
I’ll give you a hint. Historically successful leaders like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walt Disney, and Thomas Edison (all old, white guy business leaders) and even author and creative J.R.R. Tolkien, were famous for participating. The result of their participation was exponential growth in their businesses and pursuits and the “diversity” of thought they obtained from participation helped them accomplish far more than they ever could have alone.
Video of the Week...Tuesday, December 4, 2018 (Live!)
This week the Video of the Week is postponed. Apochromatik will host a Facebook Live on Thursday, December 6, at 11:00 a.m. central (12:00 p.m. eastern) for a lunch hour announcement you won’t want to miss.
2019 is the year you will set and achieve the goals and play bigger than you ever thought possible. We will show you how.
Log in to the Apochromatik Facebook page for the live event.
Apochromatik's Holiday Guide: Make this your best holiday season yet
The holidays are upon us! With the combination of work parties, family activities, and an expanded to do list, it can be easy to consider December another challenge to get through. Instead, we’ve rounded up some of our resources on the holidays, both articles that have quoted us as experts, and our own blog posts that can help you end December with deepened work relationships, having advanced your career, and with time and energy left for your most important relationships. So make yourself some cocoa and take a few minutes to learn how to make December a season to cherish rather than endure.
You've had the Thanksgiving feast...now it is Cyber Monday!
You’ve had the Thanksgiving Feast...
Stood in line for the deals of the century...
Took a nap over the weekend and watched a game, binge watched that show you have been wanting to watch, or spent time with friends or family...
And now?
You are back at work.
Things haven’t changed since before the holiday, have they? They probably won’t change in the new year either. In fact, they probably haven’t changed for a long time now, right?
Are you ready to move your career to the next level?
APOCHROMATIK’S THANKSGIVING WEEK TO-DO LIST
Are you thinking about 2019?
It’s time to start now.
Performance Reviews: The Best Investment of Your Time
This week I look at the review process from the manager or supervisor side of the desk. If you have been invested in your career for several years you likely have at least one direct report. That means you are in a small way responsible for helping them progress in their career through effective feedback that allows them to advance in their career, find their focus, and improve their weaknesses. This week we look at the “management” side of the review process to ensure you are doing your job to improve the performance of those who work for you and improve the organizations overall performance and effectiveness.
Feedback...
One of our most popular trainings is on how to solicit and respond to feedback, both during and outside the formal review context. (We also train supervisors on how to give meaningful feedback.) As we speak to people who have made time to attend a training on making the most of feedback, we often hear that they are “too busy” to prepare for their review. As we always say, that’s like saying “I was so busy packing for vacation that I didn’t have time to book a plane ticket.” Your review may be the one time all year when you and your boss both carve out time to sit and talk about your career. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.
One Common Mistake to Avoid in the Search for True Job/Career Satisfaction
Job satisfaction, and for that matter career satisfaction, can play a big role in our overall happiness. I don’t know many people who haven’t had the Sunday evening “workweek dread” come over them around 4:00 p.m. But if that happens to you more weeks and sometimes days than not, you might need to consider whether you have real job satisfaction.
Eight Ways to Irritate Email Recipients
Studies show that the average professional spends one-third of their work day on work email. That means that email can have a big impact on your career. Read on for eight common—and easily correctable—mistakes you may be making with your emails.