By Gary Turner, Puget Sound Energy.

Looking at my life I can honestly say my life has been more successful and rewarding because of mentors.  Mentoring provides many benefits to both people - it’s not just about imparting knowledge from a senior person to the younger protégée.  Indeed, the person being mentored can also impart valuable insight and wisdom to the mentor as well. Have you experienced the benefits of mentoring?  Have you been a mentor to another? 

I have been fortunate to experience significant mentor relationships at critical points in my life. Different connections came about without me really seeking them out. Mentors that come to mind were: a neighbor, Don; a teacher, Mr. Cutler; my uncle, Bill; a coworker, Phil; and family friend, Archie – all unbelievably fortunate for me to have and beneficial to the point that my life’s direction was altered because of them!  Reflecting on these experience here are a few thoughts about effective mentor/mentee qualities. A great mentor: 

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By Sue Z. Hart

“Try not to be a man (person) of success, but a man (person) of value.” ~ Albert Einstein

When I think of mentoring, I believe there are two types. The first type of mentoring is what most people traditionally think of, which involves deliberate sharing of one’s time and skills. The mentor works alongside the mentee to share their wisdom in a purposeful way. This is especially important when so much of our skilled workforce is getting ready to retire. The knowledge they have learned by “doing” a job over the past three or four decades cannot be taught in a book. Their “hands-on” knowledge would be lost without mentoring.

We need more mentors and programs that promote this type of training.

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By Glenn froehlich, My Knowledge Matters

Webster defines is as a wise and trusted counselor a teacher or an influential senior sponsor or supporter. As I reflect through life I have had many, and have been one. To this day I still use coaches and mentors in different areas of my life.  One of the most influential was a man who taught me the practice of paying it forward. I was in a tough place, going to school, working in a commission job, and no money, not a little money, no money! My boss at the time knew I was hurting, but I showed up every day, went to school every day and worked hard. One day he pulled me into his office and sat me down, I thought I was being fired, and he handed me a check, not a lot a money just a couple of hundred dollars,  which at the time made a huge difference in my world, and all he said was, “You don’t have to pay it back, but if you see another person who needs help, and you can help, give them a hand” Since that day, I always try to help were and when I can, sometimes just the smallest things can make the biggest difference. Today, I pay it forward whenever I can, hoping I can make the same impact he made on me, in someone else’s life.

By Gary Turner, Puget Sound Energy.

My first job was so long ago I actually have a problem remembering what that job was…sad but true!  One early job was working at the Bavarian Waffle Bar in the Food Circus at the Seattle Center.  The Food Circus was a large building with what we would today call a food court with many eating establishments to satisfy your dining preference. 

My training was brief - how to clean strawberries with nothing more efficient than a plastic spoon to core the berries, how to run the cash register, instruction to not ever trade free food with other vendors, and what I’d be paid.  The words I’ll never forget at age 15 or16 were “You’ll make $1.50 an hour for the first month. If you last that long you’ll get a raise to $1.65 an hour and you’ll stay at that pay forever. Good luck.”  I could eat all the strawberry topped waffles I wanted-what a benefit!

Unfortunately I succumbed and broke rule number 1, swapping a waffle for a hamburger with one of my neighboring booths by the end of the first week (I resisted offers from other vendors for as long as I could despite constant offers…strawberry waffles were in demand!) I also did make it to the raise in pay but don’t remember much else.  I still love strawberries. 

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By Glenn Froehlich, My Knowledge Matters

I’m not sure how I got the job, I think I just went in and ask the owner if he needed help. It was a TV store, were they did repair and sales of TV’s. Now understand, this was when TV’s were huge and heavy, when they had tubes in them and huge wood boxed around them! The owner of the store, Bob did everything; he sold the huge consoles, with names like RCA and Zenith. He worked on them, carefully testing the tubes and replacing them as needed to bring these huge boxes back to life. But Bob was getting a bit older and needed a young buck like me around for all the little things it took to keep the TV store going. So my job, when I wasn’t helping move TV’s from the showroom to customs homes, was to keep the showroom spotless. I would dust the TV’s using a special product on the wood consoles to make them shine, then dusting the screens one TV at time. I would watch as Bob would great customers, people would come in and tell him a problem they were having with their TV, like “it’s really green or there is no sound, or it’s wavy….and Bob would look up for just a moment and diagnose the problem with the precision a crew chief for a NASCAR team, I was always amazed….It was a simpler time. I learned the value of listening to the customer, about doing what needs to be done if you see its needs to be done and lots of other great lessons. After the summer, I went back to school, Bob ended up closing the store, something about “tubes are going away” I’ll miss Bob’s TV Sales and Service.