Cognitive dissonance is defined in modern psychology as the state of holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotions. The reason why I used the above definition is because each one of us would have come across such a dilemma at least once in our life. I bet you can think of one such instance right now. Sometimes you wonder how your life might be right now, if you hadn’t taken that important decision. While taking such decision you might have consulted many people or discussed as many times as possible. Even if you hadn’t spoken to anyone, you must have undergone thousands of thought process in your mind. Your mind was in state of cognitive dissonance while taking such decision.
In your day to day life, you come across many discrepancies regarding various issues and you need to take a decision within limited span of time. Sometimes you wish there was someone who could take all the burden of thinking and show the exact path which you need to follow. In this busy competitive corporate life it is better to have knowledgeable and wise Guide to help you chose the right direction. And that guide is who we call a mentor :)
The very first question is whom should we chose as our mentor? Let us consider the career path itself, should we choose our Manager, lead, Architect or colleague as our mentor? Can we choose mentor from different team? It can be anyone but the only requirement is you should have the complete faith in that person and the confidence that he/she will bring out the best in you.
Look for the Person who is stable, supportive and successful in handling their work. Find out whether he/she can take out some time and assist you in your career path. Once you have identified your mentor, schedule regular meeting as per convenience. Make sure this meeting isn’t affecting yours or your mentor’s job. Give your mentor a brief introduction about yourself, your roles & responsibilities and your expectations. Be accountable in informing your mentor about the status of your growth. Never hesitate to discuss with your mentor when you are confused about taking some decisions.
Suppose if you were approached by someone to take them as a mentee, make sure you are in a position to take the responsibility of that person. If you feel you are capable, take some time and prepare few general purpose guidelines for your mentee to follow. Ask them to follow the guidelines in their day to day activities for certain amount of time and get the feedback from them to evaluate the current status of the mentee. Always give the best possible solution for your mentee, but never compel them to do the same.
A mentor-mentee relationship is something like the coach and the sports star. The sports person success lies in following coach’s guidelines and the successful coach is the one who creates a star from the sportsman.
No comments:
Post a Comment