Mentorship is a powerful tool that shapes the careers and futures of design professionals. The guidance, support, and wisdom imparted by experienced mentors can ignite passion, accelerate growth, and inspire the next generation of talent. Whether you’re a seasoned professional looking to give back or a junior designer seeking guidance, mentorship has the potential to create a positive and lasting impact. I can attribute mentorship to keeping me in the architecture profession. I was very close to leaving the profession early in my career, but I was able to surround myself with positive mentors that could help me through tough situations and challenges. It left such an impact on me and it led me to blogging to help others. Let’s dive into the role of mentorship, the benefits behind mentorship, and understand elements to cultivating a successful mentoring relationship.
The Role of Mentorship in Career Development
Let’s begin with having a true “mentor” is not a formal job title. There isn’t a formal discussion on will you will be my mentor. It is a natural occurrence based on building relationships with your colleagues. Sometimes you don’t realize the impact someone is making on your career until years later. This is why I speak so much to fostering positive relationships with those in your office and in the AEC community. You never know when you’ll come along someone that leaves an everlasting impact on your career. Check out our articles on building a board of directors and reverse mentoring to learn more about how this can help you as a professional. To fully grasp the impact of mentorship, let’s discuss into a few crucial roles it plays in the career development of design professionals:
Knowledge Transfer:
Mentorship facilitates the transfer of knowledge and expertise from experienced professionals to those starting their careers. Most of our knowledge growth comes from work experience. Having someone on your team that can help you LEARN while going through a project is crucial to your career success. If you are left on an island, you’ll be stuck learning through negative situations and challenges, rather than learning from all experiences. It is the sheer fact of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’, and it is easier to learn through others pointing out things. Mentors can provide valuable insights, share industry-specific knowledge, and guide mentees through the complexities of the design profession.
Skill Development:
Mentors play a vital role in nurturing and developing the skills necessary for success in the design industry. Whether Architects and Engineers like it or not, the profession lends itself to all of us being teachers. It is the duty of seasoned professionals to teach young professionals to enhance their skill development and learn from the mistakes of the past. A mentor can offer guidance on technical skills, professional competencies, and the soft skills needed to thrive in a dynamic and ever-evolving field.
Networking Opportunities:
Mentors often provide mentees with access to valuable networks and connections within the design industry. These connections can open doors to new opportunities, collaborations, and potential career advancements. They can help young professionals learn how to attend networking and business development events with confidence, how to introduce themselves to new people, meet peers of the profession, and be introduced to partners such as contractors, product representatives, and owners. It can be a daunting task to move around a room full of people that you don’t know anyone. It is important to have a seasoned professional navigate you through a few events so then you can tackle a room on your own.
The Benefits for Mentorship
The benefits of mentorship aren’t just for the mentees. Mentors also growth and learn through the process. Young professionals can be an inspiration during the design process, question things that you may not have questioned in the past, or even get you excited about projects. I have had young professionals ask me questions that requires me to dive deeper into the ‘why’ to be able to provide them with an explanation, and this helps me grow to be a better Architect. We should all strive to have mentees in our life to help us grow as a professional, keep us thinking critically, and help the industry propel into the future. Let’s explore the profound benefits that mentorship brings to everyone:
Personal and Professional Growth:
Mentees experience accelerated personal and professional growth under the guidance of a mentor. It can be a huge learning curve coming out of school and getting adjusted to the profession. It is critical that they have role models to help them along is journey. When they don’t have this resource, we find that young professionals leave the industry entirely, and don’t come back. Through feedback, constructive criticism, and challenging assignments, mentors help mentees overcome obstacles and tap into their full potential.
Expanded Perspectives:
Mentors provide mentees with diverse perspectives and experiences, broadening their horizons beyond what they would encounter on their own. This exposure helps mentees develop a more well-rounded approach to their work and fosters a greater appreciation for different design philosophies. As a mentor you can also help make connections for the mentees so they can discover the path in architecture and design that they want to achieve. It may not be a similar path to your own, but your connections can help them see how vast and diverse our industry truly is.
Increased Confidence:
Having a mentor who believes in their abilities and supports their growth boosts the confidence of mentees. This confidence enables mentees to take on new challenges, embrace risks, and push their boundaries, ultimately leading to greater professional success. If you leave someone to constantly figure things out on their own without any guidance, education, or discussions it not only hurts their confidence, but also kills your firms’ fees on projects, increase chances for issues during construction, and it can sever your working relationship. Don’t let your ego hold you back from helping young professionals learn and build their confidence.
The Rewards for Mentors
Don’t believe me that mentoring other can help your career? Why should you take the time to teach others? I often hear “I had to learn the hard way, so can they” as a reason behind why someone doesn’t want to teach or mentor their teams. But why allow a broken process to continue? Even if you didn’t have a strong mentorship relationship when you started your career, why force that on others? Still don’t have you convinced? Let me go through some quick rewards that mentorship has on mentors. Mentorship is a mutually beneficial relationship that rewards mentors in various ways:
Personal Fulfillment:
Mentoring offers mentors a sense of personal fulfillment and satisfaction derived from sharing their knowledge, experiences, and expertise. Witnessing the growth and success of their mentees can be immensely rewarding and affirming.
Skill Refinement:
Mentoring provides an opportunity for mentors to refine their own skills, deepen their understanding of their field, and stay current with emerging trends and technologies. Mentoring challenges mentors to stay sharp and continuously improve their craft.
Legacy and Impact:
Mentors leave a lasting impact on the design industry by nurturing the next generation of talent. The influence and guidance provided by mentors extend far beyond the immediate mentees, contributing to a culture of excellence and growth in the design profession.
The Elements of Successful Mentorship
For those of you looking to mentor others or are currently looking to be a better mentor, let’s dive into some simple advice. Successful mentorship requires certain elements to create an environment conducive to growth and learning. Consider the following components:
Trust and Respect:
Mentorship thrives on trust and respect between mentors and mentees. Both parties must establish a foundation of trust to facilitate open and honest communication, vulnerability, and the willingness to learn from one another. Remember, this isn’t a formal title of becoming someone’s mentor. It takes time to learn about your team as humans beyond the project work. It establishes trust, respect, and comfortability to ask you questions. So be patient and learn about your team.
Clear Goals and Expectations:
Defining clear goals and expectations at the outset of the mentorship ensures alignment between mentors and mentees. Clear communication regarding objectives, timelines, and desired outcomes establishes a roadmap for success. Often this is within project team communication itself, but sometimes a mentee may ask you to be an accountability person as they work through their registration exams. It is important if it is being an accountability person to understand what that means to them, what are the expectations, and how you feel you can help the most.
Regular Communication and Feedback:
Regular and open communication is vital in a mentoring relationship. Mentors should provide timely feedback, constructive criticism, and guidance, while mentees should actively seek feedback and be receptive to it. It is not about waiting for a yearly review. A mentor can be someone their day-to-day to help through the project and questions (if they are on your team). You need to learn how to give and receive good, actionable feedback that they can work from. “You are doing great.” is not helpful, informative, or acceptable as feedback. To learn more about how to provide proper feedback in our soft skills courses, Build Your Foundation (for the mentee), and Foundation to Leadership (for the mentor).
Accountability and Commitment:
Both mentors and mentees must demonstrate accountability and commitment to the mentoring process. Mentors should be available, engaged, and invested in the growth of their mentees, while mentees should be proactive, motivated, and committed to their own development. I have mentors across the industry at various levels, and as you grow in your career, you’ll find you may phase in and out mentors. It is not that people aren’t mentors to you anymore but the amount of contact may change. I still count many individuals as my mentors from the past that I used to talk to daily that I still go to for advice every now and then. These relationships and connections are meant to grow as you move through your career. This creates a network of influencers in your life and they can come in all sorts of shapes and forms.
Mentorship is a transformative force that shapes the careers and futures of design professionals. It provides mentees with guidance, support, and growth opportunities, while mentors experience personal fulfillment and leave a lasting impact on the industry. Embrace the power of mentorship, whether as a mentor or mentee, and embark on a journey of learning, development, and collaboration. Together, we can create a thriving design community that inspires and uplifts all its members.
Written by
Katelyn Rossier, AIA, NCARB, LSSBB
