Talk to any CIO or IT executive who’s ever mentored an up-and-coming leader and you’ll quickly discover that they’re getting as much out of the experience as their mentees are. Not only does IT mentoring gives the executive a satisfying way to pay it forward, it’s also a great way to engage star talent, learn about new tech, and relate to younger workers.

In a recent article for The Enterprisers Project, Dan Roberts explored how both mentor and mentee can make the relationship work best and deliver a win-win all around. As part of his research process for the article, Dan spoke with two people who  know first hand what makes a mentoring relationship effective.  Dollar Bank CIO Bill Fortwanger and Andy Bonelli, a senior IT manager at PPG, were paired up as mentor and mentee in a recent TechLX  cohort in Pittsburgh. They’ve seen just how powerful the relationship can be for both sides of the equation.

Andy has also served as a mentor himself in PPG’s internal program, and many mentees go on to pay it forward as mentors themselves. In fact, research shows that 89% of those mentored go on to mentor others, contributing to a culture of learning and mentoring.
 
How Mentoring Makes an Impact

When CIOs and other IT executives volunteer to become mentors in the TechLX program, we ask them to share their thoughts on the value of mentoring as a professional development tool and what they hope to gain from the relationship. Here’s just a sampling of what these leaders have told us: 

• Mentoring at a minimum provides two significant opportunities:
  • An opportunity to significantly expand an individual’s professional network.
  • Personal and candid/constructive feedback based on a mentor’s prior experience that can be shared in an open and confidential manner without any concern of judgment and/or retribution.

 

• Serving as a mentor enables IT executives to:
  • Invest in the IT leader community.
  • Gain insights into what holds back junior IT leaders.
  • Learn what younger employees expect in their workplace.

 

• The process is valuable for both parties. It’s very valuable for the mentee, as they can learn approaches, best practices and pitfalls from someone who has succeeded in technology leadership. It’s valuable for the mentor as well. I have found that when mentoring someone, I always learn valuable skills from them, and learn more about leadership, culture, and myself throughout the process.

 

• I can count on one hand those crucial people who either inspired or informed me in my career. For me, I had to seek them out or encounter them by chance. Just one conversation, key phase, tool, or insight can make a difference. Mentoring is valuable because of its personal and intentional commitment to growth — one professional with another. 

 

• There is nothing richer than having someone to share perspectives with. It produces rich outcomes from diverse perspectives. There is value seeing it from different points of view. Perspective is invaluable.

 

• I am at the end of my career and have a vast bank of global experiences, mistakes, successes, etc. to share. This education has cost several million dollars in salary, travel expenses, educational expenses, both formal and informal, and I would like others to benefit from it. 

To learn more about getting the benefits of an IT mentoring relationship, be sure to check out Dan’s article, ​IT mentors: How to make the most of this win-win relationship.

Interested in being a mentor for one of our upcoming TechLX cohorts, or just want to learn more about this powerful technology leadership experience? Email us, give us a call at 603-782-7473, or visit the TechLX website for more details.