I think I have a mentor

[Zoe Girl]

Yippee, I asked someone to be my mentor at work. She has been totally swamped doing all our registrations the last 3 weeks but she put an invite on my calendar for less than 2 weeks out, I am so excited! I need to inform my supervisor of course but I also feel that I have some ownership and responsibility for my career. I can't complain if I don't try.

[iris lilies]

I have a lot of questions about this.

By "informing [your] supervisor" does this mean that mentoring is an official program of your school?

What does your job coach think of this, and how will this differ from what the job coach does for you?

Amd I have to ask this one, havent you done this mentoring thing before? Maybe Im wrong, but if you did have a mentor, how did that turn out?

How did you pick this person to be your mentor? How does the mentor know what she is supposed to do, and what are you expectations about the time she spends on this relationship?

[Zoe Girl]

We have heard about mentoring programs in our department for at least 3 years, and nothing has happened. I have signed up every year, I would love to do this. Something kinda new to me but I think valuable. I am not officially tied to a school so I am not part of a teacher mentoring program, it wouldn't apply to me since I am not in a classroom. I have to be done with the job coach since I cannot spend that money anymore, it has been a year and she has been really helpful so maybe on occasion I could meet her but not on a bi-monthly schedule at this point.

I picked her because she led our communication task force and has gotten the work done! The supervisor level pushed back and wanted to veto the work we did but they didn't have the authority to do that. She is above the supervisor level and a little off to the side but she didn't pull rank. We were given the task by the director of all our programs and so we did our job. I love that she knows how to push back and do it well, and that suits my personality.

In our first meeting we can both talk about our expectations and if there are any issues like permissions we need to address. I will ask permissions as needed but I need to know clearly from the supervisors what that looks like so I will ask (and get it in writing). This goes along with asking for training that is at my level as a person with a masters in the field as compared to some of my colleagues who do not have any college education. We all do a good job but the same training is not always appropriate. I have participated with a good attitude for 6 years at this point.

[lhamo]

We have heard about mentoring programs in our department for at least 3 years, and nothing has happened. I have signed up every year, I would love to do this. Something kinda new to me but I think valuable. I am not officially tied to a school so I am not part of a teacher mentoring program, it wouldn't apply to me since I am not in a classroom. I have to be done with the job coach since I cannot spend that money anymore, it has been a year and she has been really helpful so maybe on occasion I could meet her but not on a bi-monthly schedule at this point.

I picked her because she led our communication task force and has gotten the work done! The supervisor level pushed back and wanted to veto the work we did but they didn't have the authority to do that. She is above the supervisor level and a little off to the side but she didn't pull rank. We were given the task by the director of all our programs and so we did our job. I love that she knows how to push back and do it well, and that suits my personality.

In our first meeting we can both talk about our expectations and if there are any issues like permissions we need to address. I will ask permissions as needed but I need to know clearly from the supervisors what that looks like so I will ask (and get it in writing). This goes along with asking for training that is at my level as a person with a masters in the field as compared to some of my colleagues who do not have any college education. We all do a good job but the same training is not always appropriate. I have participated with a good attitude for 6 years at this point.

ZG, I understand your enthusiasm about finally getting some kind of support within your organization, but given the dynamic you outline above and especially the bolded bits, I would proceed with EXTREME CAUTION!!!!! You have already been struggling for some time in your relationship with your supervisor. I am just guessing, but I think it is reasonable to predict that she may see you teaming up with this person as being a potential attack on her. Obviously that is not your intent, but the organizational politics seem unusually fraught and delicate, and it seems you might lose more than you gain from this arrangement.

Is there any way you can triangulate a bit about the requirements for permissions, etc. outside of going to your supervisor with this? Could you be upfront with your potential mentor about the challenges you have had in navigating the politics with your supervisor, and have her look into it? I don't want to burst your bubble, but am really worried about how this might play out and don't want to see you be further damaged by this dysfunctional employer....

[Zoe Girl]

I understand lhamo, I think the first thing I want to be 'mentored' on is if this is a good idea. I am open to her saying it is not a good time or that the structure is not there. So it may be just a short meeting. We are not a large group so of course she knows my supervisor. Since my potential mentor was the lead on our communication task force this meeting can be presented as me wanting to talk more about the mentoring idea we had from that task force, so rather disguised until it seems like a good idea to go forward.

Funny how I actually thought today that I wanted to call her and say I was nervous and ask if she thought this was a good idea. If nothing else tell her I will not take it personally if she feels this is not a good fit or a good move in our department at this time.

[Reyes]

Zoe, I don't know that you are entitled to a higher level of training than that of your peers. That you have a graduate degree does not change the fact that your position does not require a degree (if I am understanding correctly that some of your peers do not have higher education).

[Zoe Girl]

I may not be entitled to it but I think if I ask with some tact then I could at least ask. I am asking because I have taken all the training offered multiple times for one reason, but also because my degree is in areas that we train on every year. I have always said I can learn something new in training, have had a good attitude and demeanor in the training sessions, etc. It isn't easy but I have been genuine in my participation. Right now we are pushing a lot for personalized learning for students and staff. I am part of the committee that plans professional development and we are working on ways to give staff more choice. I am super excited that I came up with an idea at 6:30 am for a training and got it approved. It is on my experience running eco-friendly camps and teaching staff to make adjustments to summer programs for that focus. I am in charge of creating, scheduling, registering, etc. I have been doing some training on the summer book program (again asking lots of permissions), the one today was great and loved by the staff. So it would be in-line with our focus on personalized learning to ask for support in finding some specific training for me.

But maybe I am totally getting it wrong, it is so hard to feel I am holding myself back all the time so I don't say or do the wrong thing. Getting too excited about big ideas, using words that no one else does, pushing a bit on edges of things, it seems to bug people.. After the great purge of 2016 (department turnover) I am starting to find some people that I relate to well now. I wish some of you knew me in person, I can get people really excited about my projects and plans and create a team around that. My camps have had excellent programming by all evaluations, I was doing personalized training for my staff years ago, I even found training materials in Spanish to meet their needs. I can manage the conflicts so we grow as a team rather than devolve into conflict when I am working with colleagues and my staff. The improved relationships with supervisors this year have taken a lot of work, it wasn't all up to me but I have worked very hard on these relationships. Basically trying to give them the same customer service I give my families, having the courage to continually have challenging and respectful conversations, documenting everything I do, and not focusing on the negative no matter how heavy the work load has been getting. I am getting positive responses to this, we will see when reviews come in.