Become a Mentor
marketing, miscellaneous, resource, writing February 2nd, 2009
I always wanted a mentor. I never had one.
Even now, when I hear someone say, “My mentor …” I get a little wistful.
Sure, there were people in my career path who could’ve mentored me, but 20 years ago, it was the age of being a climber. Sorry to say, but the career women in my life were tight-lipped about their success.
In fact, I remember accompanying an editor of mine to a fancy BPW meeting. I was so excited to have been asked to go and it was clear that I was an ankle-biter in a sea of well-coiffed, impeccably dressed (replete with fancy floppy scarf ties) seniors. As I was standing there soaking it all in, a topic came up about finding a young, aspiring writer for a project. My editor-boss she said she didn’t know one.
Hello?!
I was standing right there.
Other people even commented that I might perhaps be a fit and they looked at me with sad eyes that said, “Sorry, she’s being an idiot.”
The editor-boss poo-pooed the idea. (BTW, she’s now a highly acclaimed editor at her state’s largest newspaper.)
So, instead of being bitter (wistful’s not the same as bitter), I’ve decided to give what I couldn’t get. I’ve signed up to be a mentor on www.thecreativecareer.com.
If you’re in the marketing communications field, I urge you to sign up to be a mentor, too. If you’re not, be a mentor anyway. It’ll do you and the world some good.
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