Mentoring: Constructing a Personal Advisory Board
Strategic Career Planning
Lawyers at every stage of career development need to
learn from other people in order to succeed. Here's how to proactively
develop relationships with knowledge experts, mentors, and strategic
allies.
by Ellen Ostrow
"AS ANY GOOD MOUNTAINEER will tell you, a successful ascent
requires a good deal of preparation: choosing fellow climbers, ensuring
team conditioning, assembling first?rate equipment, and having
experienced guides."1
The need to strategically plan your career never ends. From new
lawyer to seasoned practitioner, to accomplish your long? and short?term
objectives, you must plan ahead and design your current work so that it
will pave the way to your goals. Guided professional development is an
ongoing necessity for a successful legal career.
Every attorney needs a mentor. But the old model of mentoring, in
which a senior attorney took on a protégé, is rarely a
realistic option in today's legal workplace. First of all, the demands
on partners' time make it all but impossible for them to devote
themselves to this kind of relationship. Furthermore, the apprenticeship
model was viable when all attorneys were white men. But the
heterogeneity of the profession makes it more difficult for senior
partners to see themselves reflected in the associates around them; and
there is a paucity of models for women attorneys and attorneys of
color.
Ironically, it is attorneys of color and women who most need and
benefit from mentoring. The exclusion of women from informal networks
and the devastating effects this can have on career success and
satisfaction have been repeatedly documented. Women attorneys wanting to
balance work and family need experienced colleagues who can share their
own time?tested strategies. An advocate is helpful when your efforts to
care for your family are used as evidence that you lack professional
commitment.
Furthermore, David A. Thomas compellingly argues that professionals
of color need mentoring that is not just instructional, but also
provides emotional support, builds confidence, and helps the
protégé to effectively deal with the potential barriers to
success posed by racial stereotypes.2
Mentoring Programs
Although many firms have formal mentoring programs, few are
successful. Typically, mentees say they've had an occasional lunch with
their mentor, but have never found the relationship to be helpful.
Often, they perceive the mentor to be uninterested in their professional
development.
To be fair, these relationships are "arranged marriages" in an
association that, in reality, relies on good chemistry. That's not to
say that if your assigned mentor is willing to mentor you, it's not
worth a try. Sometimes supportive and productive relationships evolve
out of firm?arranged mentoring alliances.
Even when mentoring programs are successful, they rarely address the
needs of attorneys beyond the first year or two of practice. The new
partner, the mid?career attorney, and the attorney considering
retirement are not offered mentors to help them navigate these
transitions.
Strategic Alliances
No one will ever care more about your career than you. When you take
personal responsibility for your own professional development and
success, you're far more likely to feel in control of your career and to
be able to steer the course with your whole life in mind.
Rather than wait for your firm or organization to offer a mentor, why
not develop a number of strategic alliances with people who can provide
mentoring across a wide variety of professional concerns? Clarify your
goals and objectives for mentoring relationships and then identify a
group of people who can assist you in accomplishing your goals. You
might think of this group as your personal strategic advisory board.
Each mentor can be chosen to fulfill specific goals.
Developing Alliances
Evaluate Your Learning Needs. The first step is to assess your
learning needs. As part of your strategic career planning, regularly
evaluate your skill repertoire and identify knowledge gaps.
Selecting potential mentors will depend largely on your assessment of
these needs. Ask yourself, "What expertise do I need to develop in order
to undertake this project? What skills do I need to acquire or improve
in order to achieve my career goals for this year?" Don't wait until
evaluation time to hear what others think of your skills. Be proactive
in clarifying your goals and the expertise you need to achieve them.
Proactively Identify Resources. Once you've determined the kinds of
knowledge you need to acquire, ask yourself, "Who would know something
about this?" Identify potential mentors and establish relationships with
them.
Your mentors, or strategic allies, or personal board of directors,
serve as a kind of informal, customized personal knowledge resource to
fill in your knowledge gaps. According to Robert Kelley's research,
successful people ask themselves, "What is the fastest route to get the
information I need, and who are the people I need to go through to
connect with the person who has the best information?"3
After identifying your knowledge gaps, look for mentors in a variety
of places. Consider law school professors who possess the expertise
you're trying to develop. Maybe you've come across an in?house attorney
who knows a great deal about the subject. Perhaps there's a legal expert
you're aware of in a noncompeting firm. Contact your local or state bar
association. For example, use State Bar of Wisconsin resources,
including Wisconsin Lawyer authors, section representatives, and
Lawyer-to-Lawyer Directory participants. In addition, look at the ABA's
Web site or search via Martindale?Hubbell. Ask successful attorneys to
recommend people with particular expertise, or who have been helpful to
them in some way.
Every situation presents you with possibilities for finding mentors.
Listen to the contributions people make to meetings you attend; be
attentive to who has special expertise in areas you want to develop, who
you admire, and who has values similar to your own. Work on
collaborative projects with people, both at work and in your community,
and observe others' skills. Get involved in your local or state bar
association. Take note of good networkers whose success secrets you'd
like to emulate. If you attend a program and are particularly interested
in the speaker, try to approach her or him afterwards. Tell her you
admire her work and would like to learn from her, or that you want to
achieve what he has and would appreciate his advice.
If possible, get a feel for what it would be like to work with a
potential mentor. You might volunteer to serve on a committee or request
an assignment that will allow you to work with a potential mentor as a
way to establish a working relationship.
Try to spot people who seem particularly disposed to invest in a
mentoring relationship. When people express genuine interest in you and
your career, take them up on it.
Different Functions for Different Mentors. Younger associates and
lawyers new to any firm or agency need a mentor within their firm or
organization to help them learn about its culture. This mentor can
provide tips on who is powerful, who the key players and decision?makers
are, who to seek out, and who not to cross. A more senior person in your
organization can help you learn the protocol; she or he can speak up for
you when you need a champion and facilitate your socialization and
integration into the firm.
It is extremely useful to find a mentor who does the same kind of
work as you. A senior and successful attorney in your practice area who
can provide candid and constructive criticism of your work is an
invaluable resource.
Within your firm or organization, build alliances with people who
have influence with decision?makers. Identify people you trust and
admire and who share your values. You'll need to feel comfortable enough
with this person to honestly share questions and concerns.
It's especially helpful for women attorneys to form alliances with
other women lawyers who share their values concerning work/life balance.
It's even better if you admire how this person has handled the issue in
her own life.
It's also advantageous to build alliances with people outside of your
firm or organization. These may be individuals with expertise in areas
where you have knowledge gaps, people you generally admire and believe
can teach you a lot, or attorneys who are particularly supportive and
whose perspective on the profession is of value to you. Your personal
knowledge board also may include people in other professions, perhaps in
the industry you serve. It's also good to include someone who can guide
you in strategic life and career design. Often a professional coach
serves this purpose.
Keep in mind the importance of discretion when speaking to a mentor
within your firm. You must protect the confidentiality of client
information when speaking with advisors outside of your firm. If your
coach is a psychologist, your communications are privileged.
Developing and Maintaining Relationships. The alliances you form are
substantive, strategically important business relationships. They have
far more depth than someone to whom you hand a business card at a
networking event. These are meaningful, productive relationships with
people at all levels of experience who can provide career enhancement
and self?development.
Especially if you dislike the superficiality that networking
connotes, these alliances will be easier to develop because they evolve
in a natural and authentic way. They depend upon personal chemistry and
often occur serendipitously. But you can influence serendipity by
volunteering for committees or work assignments that allow collaborative
relationships to develop. This also allows both parties to evaluate the
benefits of the working relationship.
Knowledge and assistance are privileges, not rights. It's important
to clarify each person's expectations of the relationship. Negotiate how
long you expect the relationship to proceed in this form - you can
always arrange to continue the alliance.
Try to gain an understanding of what your mentor or ally needs in
order for the relationship to be mutually rewarding. For some advisors,
helping another attorney succeed is sufficient. Others might feel
rewarded by your offers to assist them in writing an article or
speech.
Developing your own area of expertise makes you a desirable ally. You
can be a source of information to your mentor by sending clippings,
articles, and so on that you know would be of interest. When you can
link the problem for which you're seeking expertise to an area of your
advisor's interest, your mentor can deepen his or her own knowledge
while helping you.
It's important not to abuse your relationships with your personal
advisory board. Be clear about each individual's willingness to be
available and helpful and structure your requests accordingly. Treat
these relationships with great care, show appropriate gratitude, and
give proper credit for contributions. Never waste your advisors' time.
When you seek their expertise, prepare your questions well and summarize
the efforts you've already made to solve the problem.
Lay the Groundwork in Advance. The worst time to be constructing your
strategic advisory board is when you need it to work for you. It's
essential to be proactive and to find ways to build these relationships
before you need to call on them for their assistance. Try to find ways
to collaborate with potential information sources. Build credit by
offering help and following through.
And don't forget the unique contribution a professional coach can
make to your career and personal development. Other attorneys can teach
you practical applications of the law or show you the ropes of your
firm, but only your coach is dedicated to your success, is an expert in
the change process, has no vested interest in your choices, and has
special knowledge about how to plan your career without sacrificing the
important things in your life.
Endnotes
1 Jay M. Jackman. Quoted in
Nichols, Nancy A. (Ed.), Reach for the Top: Women and the Changing
Facts of Work Life, 81 (Harvard Business School Press, 1996).
2 Thomas, David A., Race
Matters: The Truth About Mentoring Minorities, Harv. Bus. Rev.,
April, 2001.
3 Kelley, Robert E., How
to Be a Star at Work - 9 Breakthrough Strategies You Need to
Succeed, 81 (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999).
Wisconsin Lawyer