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Mr. Neeraj Gehani, Product Director at dunnhumby, speak to The meaning of guru, teacher, mentor and trainer finds a different meaning today – especially in the corporate world and towards the holistic as well as career growth of the individual.
- Why should we look for a mentor?
The definition of mentor in the dictionary is, “Experienced and trusted advisor.” The world around us is changing rapidly and it is almost impossible for any one person to have the right set of experiences and frameworks to navigate the complexity. Our personal and educational experiences do not necessarily prepare us to deal with various challenges that life throws at us. Mentors can point us in direction, expand our worldview, and help us take appropriate steps based on their personal experiences.
Organizations are looking to nurture and retain their best talent, while employees want to grow and build skills that set them up for long-term success. Despite the common intention, employee engagement in the workplace remains low. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2022 report, only 21% of employees are engaged at work and only a third believe they are thriving in their overall well-being. Formal and informal mentoring in and out of the workplace can be one solution to this dilemma.
- Mentor relevance in corporate life?
Most employees tend to look to managers as their mentors, but it’s rare to always find a great manager with the right breadth and depth of experience to give unbiased and sound advice. Also, the relationship with the manager tends to be more formal and delivery-oriented, leaving little room for open conversations about career trajectory, unspoken challenges, etc.
A mentor with the right experience can help employees connect with their deeper motivations, share valuable experiences at different stages of their careers, and explore potential paths that the mentee may not be aware of given their limited experience. Beyond the primary focus on navigating organizational complexity, skills and career planning, one is free to discuss broader challenges around mental health and
psychological blockers, which are important topics but generally considered taboo to discuss with line managers.
- How can a “mentor” be a “great mentor” in the corporate world?
Being a mentor is both a privilege and a position of great responsibility. To be a good mentor, one must possess:
Relevant experience
The starting point is having the right experience in the field you are mentoring someone in. A mentor with a diverse set of experiences can help the mentee evaluate a particular situation from a multidimensional lens.
Empathy and listening skills
Strong empathy and listening skills are equally important in treating mentees as human beings and putting oneself in their shoes. Mentors often make the mistake of being too prescriptive about what the mentee should do. A mentor must be open-minded and understand that there is no single path to success. His role is to help the mentee find the answers for himself through a Socratic approach of questioning, which can help him reflect and refine his thought process.
Self-awareness
The mentor must also be able to understand the limits of their own knowledge and experience and relate them to other mentors who may be better equipped to support mentees at different stages of their evolution.
Role modeling
A mentor should also act as a great role model by showing/sharing how they themselves deal with challenging situations and adopt a growth mindset.
- Why should mentoring be considered important for a good career?
Mentors also grow in the mentoring process as they feel responsible for helping their mentees develop as well as putting their own experiences into context. Mentoring also provides them with exposure to different perspectives as well as increases their levels of self-awareness. Because leadership is driven by followership, mentors build a higher level of trust in their competence within the organization. In addition, mentors hone their art of providing effective feedback as well as leading with questions that can help improve their management skills.
- What should a mentor/teacher/trainer avoid in a post-covid world (to inspire/motivate students)?
The Covid pandemic has had a drastic impact on the definition of the workplace and employees’ perspective on the role of work in their overall lives. Mentor-mentee relationships must also evolve with changing times. Specifically, mentors should avoid the pitfalls detailed below:
Lack of Empathy – The pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the general mental well-being of many people. It is important for mentors/teachers to be sensitive and compassionate while dealing with mentees/students.
Out of sight, out of mind – Not keeping in touch with their mentees as students/employees who are increasingly working remotely.
Being inflexible – Mentors should be flexible in engaging with mentees in terms of the mode of engagement, i.e. virtual versus face to face.
- How can a mentor become relevant in data versus customer science and product development?
Both data science and product development are among the most sought-after career opportunities today. There is a lot of interest from both young and experienced professionals to start and/or focus their careers in these fields. While there is plenty of information available online about how to build the right skills to be successful, it can be overwhelming for candidates to absorb all the advice and take the right steps.
A mentor with the right experience can help one take the most optimal approach to building their career in customer data science and product development. Additionally, a mentor can also help mentees build their industry network and connect them with the right opportunities. It is also important for mentees to seek input from multiple mentors in order to have a more rounded view of potential paths to success.
Great mentors also actively share their knowledge and experience with the community and position themselves as experts in their respective fields. They can take advantage of opportunities to teach/share their know-how both within and outside their organizations through industry seminars, guest lectures and thought leadership sharing through professional networks such as LinkedIn.
- “The customer is king” – how can data science/data analytics reinforce this statement if you were to lead a workshop as a mentor in an organization?
All businesses exist to serve and delight their customers. Typically, organizations rely on HiPPO (highest paid person opinion) to make decisions on behalf of clients. Winning organizations, by contrast, use data to make decisions about what to build and for whom to build. Democratization and easy access to relevant data for frontline workers closest to customers can help organizations truly make the right decisions and treat the “Customer as King.” Predictive algorithms can help organizations target the right customers at the right time with the right offering through the right channel.
Data analytics can help organizations align their strategies and business results to the right customer engagement, satisfaction and monetization goals and help them win in the marketplace.
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