BEST PRACTICES | |||||||||||
Seek Out the Many Rewards of Mentoring | |||||||||||
by Ken L. Ross Jr., FAIA |
|||||||||||
No matter what point you are in your career, chances are you have had a mentor or have mentored someone else. That mentor may have been a supervisor or more experienced coworker who showed you the ropes on your first job. It may have even been a professor or teacher who guided and encouraged you to follow your interests. Even if you've been in the profession a long time, you may still have mentors among your peersindividuals to whom you often turn for advice and information. You are not alone. By its very nature, the architecture profession provides wonderful opportunities for mentoring. By history and tradition, young architects have long apprenticed to masters (although a protégé can be at any level of his or her career). Frank Lloyd Wright learned from Louis Sullivan and then went on to mentor many others through his design studios at Taliesin in Wisconsin and Arizona. Charles and Ray Eames mentored many individuals in their Los Angeles design studio in the early 1960s. And there are many others. We have always learned from each other. The team approach at many firms today inevitably teaches young architects how to interact and relate with more experienced colleagues. If that is not the case at your firm, I hope here to change your mind. A
little background Architecture firms of any size can enjoy the rewards of mentoring. The quality and quantity of projects an architecture firm can do is directly related to the ability of its people to work together to surpass their expectations. Nurturing that through mentoring can only enhance the firm's work. As a corollary benefit, people who feel better about themselves and their work will make a better impression on clients. Clients see that and, in turn, feel better about the firm's work. Because mentoring is a two-way relationship in which individuals share stories, experiences, and ideas, there are rewards for the mentor as well. Seeing a person grow and learn is an affirmation of the mentor's efforts. The special bond that develops between mentor and protégé can develop into a career-long friendship. Good mentors are: Good protégés have a: Upon finding a mentor, learning-oriented persons will instinctively be observant, follow their mentors' lead, and treat them with respect and admiration. Mentors, in turn, will be affirmed by that admiration, comfortable in sharing their knowledge and career experiences, and interested in discussing their protégés' career and professional development. You're never too old for a mentor A final thought Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. |
|
||||||||||