My mentor at work is off to a new challenge and opportunity. More responsibility, more pressure, more money, and potentially more difficulties. Even on her way out she has impressed me with her positivity, her grace during her transition out of her role, and the tact that she has taken to leave this place better than when she got here.
I'm not sure when I got on her radar. Maybe it was running, maybe it was background, maybe it was when I applied and she read my resume and saw we had a lot of similarities. Anyway, she welcomed me to her inside sales team after my first two years of toiling away in marketing trying hard to make my mark.
"Rough around the edges and has a tendency to rush towards a solution rather than fully investigate all the ramifications. Occasionally can be verbose and can get off topic and spend a large amount of time talking and not doing." This would be a kind description of who I was professionally when Shannon got a hold of me. What I believe she also saw, was someone who loves to lead people, who is an optimist, who can inspire others, isn't afraid to ruffle feathers, and shares similar personal priorities. The honesty and openness that her mentoring provided was an environment where I felt safe to make mistakes. I had an ally who was willing to mold me into a better version of myself and would not hang me out to dry when I did mess up. She has my back and the good mentors do.
My mentor has the self defeating attribute of being so selfless it hurts her. Every person who is under her management is coached to realize their potential, whether that's on her team, on another team, in a different role, or even at a new company. She would literally sacrifice her own advancement for the advancement of her team. That is what a REAL leader does. She has a vision and actively inspires her team to achieve it. From the outside or from a higher position in the company it could appear that her team is always in flux but that would be a superficial way of looking at it. The reason it's in flux is because she is tirelessly working to find the best fit for every team member and maximize their potential.
In the past four years of mentorship, I have gone from Inside Sales Rep to Manager of Global Operations. The old me would have been upset that it took so long. The new me recognizes it ONLY took four years because of the direction of my mentor and persistence to my own vision.
Running is another passion with which we share an interest. She likes the big races, I like the small ones but if life works the way it normally does, I will be running a big one in the Fall and she will be running a small one. We rub off on each other even when we don't know it.
I'm also mentoring on my own now. She inspired me to take on that challenge as well and it's tremendously rewarding. When we are growing up, we need role models. Whether it's our parents, teachers, entertainers, athletes, presidents, we look up at others and look to behave like them. We don't stop needing them just because we get older. Now, we give them a fancier name, mentor, and it's really an adult role model both professionally and personally. I saw what she had, how she behaved, and the respect with which others in the organization saw her and I wanted that. The only way to get it was to ask her how she got there. That little spark of a conversation has blossomed into a real friendship and I don't know about you, but I don't make friends as readily as I did when all it took was a shared love of play-dough and crayons.
Shannon Glass is someone whom I will forever be indebted. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your friendship, kindness, compassion, encouragement, laughter, listening, and guidance. I can't say this about more than a handful of people in my life but I can say this about you with 100% complete confidence, you made a positive difference in my life and I am a better human being because of you. I'll miss you Shannon Glass. I'll miss you.
To new adventures my friend!
I'm not sure when I got on her radar. Maybe it was running, maybe it was background, maybe it was when I applied and she read my resume and saw we had a lot of similarities. Anyway, she welcomed me to her inside sales team after my first two years of toiling away in marketing trying hard to make my mark.
"Rough around the edges and has a tendency to rush towards a solution rather than fully investigate all the ramifications. Occasionally can be verbose and can get off topic and spend a large amount of time talking and not doing." This would be a kind description of who I was professionally when Shannon got a hold of me. What I believe she also saw, was someone who loves to lead people, who is an optimist, who can inspire others, isn't afraid to ruffle feathers, and shares similar personal priorities. The honesty and openness that her mentoring provided was an environment where I felt safe to make mistakes. I had an ally who was willing to mold me into a better version of myself and would not hang me out to dry when I did mess up. She has my back and the good mentors do.
My mentor has the self defeating attribute of being so selfless it hurts her. Every person who is under her management is coached to realize their potential, whether that's on her team, on another team, in a different role, or even at a new company. She would literally sacrifice her own advancement for the advancement of her team. That is what a REAL leader does. She has a vision and actively inspires her team to achieve it. From the outside or from a higher position in the company it could appear that her team is always in flux but that would be a superficial way of looking at it. The reason it's in flux is because she is tirelessly working to find the best fit for every team member and maximize their potential.
In the past four years of mentorship, I have gone from Inside Sales Rep to Manager of Global Operations. The old me would have been upset that it took so long. The new me recognizes it ONLY took four years because of the direction of my mentor and persistence to my own vision.
Running is another passion with which we share an interest. She likes the big races, I like the small ones but if life works the way it normally does, I will be running a big one in the Fall and she will be running a small one. We rub off on each other even when we don't know it.
I'm also mentoring on my own now. She inspired me to take on that challenge as well and it's tremendously rewarding. When we are growing up, we need role models. Whether it's our parents, teachers, entertainers, athletes, presidents, we look up at others and look to behave like them. We don't stop needing them just because we get older. Now, we give them a fancier name, mentor, and it's really an adult role model both professionally and personally. I saw what she had, how she behaved, and the respect with which others in the organization saw her and I wanted that. The only way to get it was to ask her how she got there. That little spark of a conversation has blossomed into a real friendship and I don't know about you, but I don't make friends as readily as I did when all it took was a shared love of play-dough and crayons.
Shannon Glass is someone whom I will forever be indebted. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your friendship, kindness, compassion, encouragement, laughter, listening, and guidance. I can't say this about more than a handful of people in my life but I can say this about you with 100% complete confidence, you made a positive difference in my life and I am a better human being because of you. I'll miss you Shannon Glass. I'll miss you.
To new adventures my friend!
