I’ve been doing a lot of mentoring in Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering leadership roles recently. I thought I’d share why this is important, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Be the mentor that you once needed... and maybe still do.
As we go up the ladder in our careers, our lives can become lonelier as there are fewer people in the organization that we can really talk to. Reaching out to others can help to give you energy to keep going.
Pay it back... and pay it forward.
I have huge gratitude to the people who have extended a hand to lift me up in my career. It took a lot of trust on their part to delegate their activities to this small Scottish quiet woman, but I made sure to repay their trust in me. Some of them I have not seen in person when I lived in Paris in the late 90s, for example, but they still inspire me now. I hope that they know whom they are; I have thanked them and tried to make sure it landed.
Gratitude is a leadership quality
Gratitude means we can notice what we’re already part of in this life. We can appreciate it and share it while treading lightly. Living more simply means we can give back more quickly, and hold out a hand to others. We should not measure our success by accomplishments or things alone, since we will tread heavily on this planet and on each other, and will remain unfulfilled.
The chance to be part of this life happens so fleetingly.
Mentoring can help you acquire empathy.
We learn empathy through intentional practice. However, it is hard to do this when we are working remotely. Mentorship can help you to acquire and hone empathy mindfully.
Humility can offer a reality-check, before the reality check helps you to learn humility.
Mentoring can help you to connect and co-learn. Like empathy, humility will help you to learn the ‘soft skills’ of interacting with other people. It’s best to learn some before situations arise where you are confronted with being humbled. Life has a funny way of doing that.
What do you think?
I’d love to know your thoughts, and thank you for helping me to learn. Your time is precious.