Argonne National Laboratory
In honor of National Mentoring Month, Argonne is partnering with the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) to host a mentoring event on Saturday, January 25, 2014.
The event will take place from 9:30am-1pm on UChicago’s campus and will feature:
Email [email protected] for more information and to RSVP for this FREE event!
As a world-class laboratory that is committed to excellence and innovation, strong mentoring relationships are critical to provide all employees with the organizational support they need to achieve their full potential. To reinforce the high value the laboratory places on strong mentoring relationships, the laboratory will now offer an Outstanding Staff Mentor Award. This honor will recognize the efforts of an individual employee who has demonstrated commitment to outstanding mentorship and who has been a dedicated advocate for advancing and mentoring his or her colleagues.
Each of us has a responsibility to provide guidance and encouragement to the next generation of mission support staff, scientists, engineers and researchers. This award extends the Outstanding Postdoctoral Supervisor and Outstanding Postdoctoral Mentor award series conceived by the Postdoctoral Society of Argonne and gives us an opportunity to recognize mentoring as an important part of leadership for all employees.
All employees at Argonne are invited to nominate a mentor for the award. Each employee may nominate only one person and will have the option of being anonymous. Self-nominations are prohibited.
The formal call for nominations will be announced in January 2014. During the holiday break, consider nominating a colleague who has most influenced your career here at Argonne.
Please direct preliminary inquiries to Gender Diversity Specialist Erin L. Thomas ([email protected]; ext. 2-3346).
“Personal brand is what people say about you when you leave the room.”
– Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com
Personal brand is commonly overlooked as a component of professional growth. Most mentoring conversations center on how to conduct oneself in the presence of others: how to work a room, how to initiate a mentoring relationship, how to structure a development discussion, etc.
Bezos’ quote addresses the cumulative impact of these small interactions on your colleagues’ impressions of you. Personal brand is the persistent impression that lingers when you exit a meeting or come up in conversation. Ideally, your personal brand is a consistent theme that permeates all you do, yet makes you distinctive from your peers.
What do you want to be known as – a thought leader, an innovator, a coalition builder, an institutional expert? How do you want to be spoken about when you’re not around?
Your everyday actions and online presence should speak to this aspirational future self. Participating in social and professional clubs and activities can help shape your brand. LinkedIn and other social networking sites are also useful tools for ensuring that you sparkle from afar.
If you stop developing in this rapidly growing scientific age, the field will grow without you.
Even if you’ve achieved your highest occupational goals, there is no ceiling to professional and personal growth. There is always a next level both in how you work and in how you interact with your co-workers.
You might think you’ve got everything figured out, but how will you stay new?
Share below.
(Post adapted from a February 2011 feature on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network.)
Would you like to be a Mentoring Blog contributor?
Submit your mentoring-related questions, topics, or stories to [email protected] and you could be featured here next Thursday!
Having a mentor who is external to your organization can go a long way in giving you perspective on your professional future or shortcomings. Take advantage of professional organizations and even your friends and family to give you insight on how to achieve your aspirations.
Do you have a mentor outside of the lab?
How has the relationship benefitted you?
Did it have any drawbacks?
Share your comments below.
The new [email protected] email address presents a private forum for communicating one-on-one with Dr. Erin Thomas, the Lab’s Gender Diversity Specialist, about all topics related to mentoring.
Do you want to start a mentoring program in your division?
Do you want personalized tips for finding a mentor?
Do you have feedback on the mentoring blog?
Send all of this and more to [email protected] if you prefer not to share via the Mentoring Blog.
Mentoring doesn’t have to be all business. Getting to know your mentor/mentee on a personal level can enhance the relationship by building camaraderie and trust. Your professional relationship does not preclude a personal connection. Instead of jumping right to business when you next meet, why not start the conversation by asking, How was your weekend? Do you have other tips for getting acquainted? Please share them below.
This is a common mentoring myth.
In fact, mentoring is a proactive form of professional development with the potential to impact everything from the size of one’s professional network to one’s advancement rate and job satisfaction. A good mentor simply shows someone how to get from where (s)he is to where (s)he wants to be. Most successful professionals have had someone to guide them at some point in their careers. Have you?
Share your experiences by leaving a comment here.
The Mentoring at Argonne LinkedIn group is your one-stop portal for connecting with Argonne mentors, mentees and advocates. Think of this as a directory of biographical profiles and a touchpoint for the latest mentoring-related news and commentaries in the popular press.
Join us while you Network. Exchange. Flourish.