IAAM Mentor Program
 

Mentor Program Overview

Purpose:
The Mentor Program at IAAM was developed by the diversification committee with the purpose of providing new members with the opportunity to:

• Experience meaningful and ongoing interaction with a diverse group of top professionals in the industry.
• Gain real world insight from experienced and successful professionals.
• Receive an insider’s view of the association.
• Expand perspectives on a range of career opportunities.
• Establish a network of professional business contacts.
• Develop confidence through leadership and personal initiative.

Tomorrow’s leaders of the association need more than social events and continuing education. They need to be able to test their ideas and learning against real world situations, to benefit from the free exchange of ideas with people who lead by example. Only those members with reputations as business professionals with integrity, and willing to give back to the association are invited to participate in the Mentor Program.

Match:
A mentor is established based on several criteria: career interest, commitment, leadership position, community obligations, time availability, geographic location and personal interests. Each match is carefully tailored to provide a unique and valuable mentoring experience to both the new association member and mentor.

Process:
The mentoring program is new member-centered, which means simply that new members to the association are coached to take a leadership role in the mentoring process. Once a mentor match has been determined, both parties are notified, and the personal profiles and contact information are provided to each. At this point, the new member will

• Initiate meeting arrangements.
• Plan and present each meeting’s agenda.
• When appropriate, conclude the mentorship.
• Evaluate the impact of participation on his or her personal and professional development.

Meeting:
To develop the rapport needed to establish an effective mentoring relationship, it is recommended that a mentor and new member
• Meet once or twice a year, leading up to the national meeting or district meeting.
• Meet for 30 minutes to one hour, though the mentor and new members have flexibility in determining how to best fulfill this commitment.

While we recommend that meetings take place at the mentor’s primary facility, it is certainly appropriate for mentors to meet via telephone or via e-mail.

A mentor may meet with the new member exclusively, thereby developing a stronger relationship. Or, a mentor can serve the capacity of “lead mentor,” initially meeting one-on-one with the new member, later arranging meetings with other individuals within their facility or organization who would each schedule a meeting.

Concluding the Mentorship:
The mentorship will conclude when both the new member and the mentor have determined that the goals and expectations have been met and concluding the mentorship is appropriate. At that time, both parties will be asked to complete a program evaluation. Some members may want to meet more than the recommended five times, and many mentoring relationships continue after the “formal” sessions have concluded.

Mentor Information

Benefits:
This is a strategic moment to invest in the future of a new member. With the ever-increasing competition in the hospitality industry, IAAM is poised to play a major role in shaping the character of our association and the facility management industry for decades to come.

As a mentor, you can

• Positively influence another individual by making productive use of your knowledge, skills, values and experiences.
• Gain tremendous satisfaction from contributing to the development of capable individuals and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing them succeed.
• Increase communication, leadership, and development/training skills for the association.
• Expand professional contacts through interaction with other mentors.
• Revitalize interest in your own work through connection to new members and their energy.
• Boost self-esteem through recognition from your mentee, peers and the association community.
• Invest in the future by giving back to the association.

Expectations:
To become a mentor, you must

• Complete the Mentor Program online application.
• Provide a personal profile or resume.
• Complete an Interview/Orientation with the program coordinator.
• Agree to fulfill the Mentor Expectations and Commitments (below).

Mentors are influential people who significantly affect the lives of their new and existing members through the people and things that they know. Successful mentors are those who embrace the art of give and take as John F. Kennedy said: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” This means that mentors plan to learn from others in the industry and show leadership by sharing examples of lifelong applied and hands on experience.

As a mentor you are expected to

• Invest time in yourself and the new member.
• Discuss with the mentee, any personal expectations you have regarding levels of contact or content of exchanges.
• Communicate respectfully and responsibly with your mentee, fostering a relationship based on mutual trust and support.
• Value the member’s time as if it were your own.
• Be available, meeting with your mentee within respectful time intervals.
• Reply to email messages and phone calls from your student within 2 business days.
• Fulfill your commitment to your mentee and the mentoring process.
• Evaluate the relationship and the program at the conclusion of the mentorship.
• Contact IAAM World Headquarters immediately with any concerns regarding your mentoring relationship or the overall program.

Becoming Involved: Components of Effective Mentoring

Guidance:
As a mentor, you are a guide through the learning process, helping your mentee understand and integrate into his/her own life knowledge, skills, character and relational abilities –qualities that are essential for success in the meetings industry and within IAAM.

Vulnerability:
A mentor is selected because of his/her expertise and Character. Therefore, sharing your own development and experience is essential, as is fostering a relationship based on mutual trust and support. Be willing to have your mentee observe your life and career, and allow the mentee to benefit from the fruit of your failures as well as successes.

Discussion:
Stories, dialogue, questions and even role play can be vital components in the learning process. Listen to and learn from the new member, and discern ways to provoke and encourage his/her growth. Learning to ask the right questions is as basic to growth as discovering answers. Pose questions and
challenge your mentee to make his/her own decisions. Act as a sounding board or coach.

Affirmation:
We learn best in contexts of support and encouragement. As a mentor, seek to enable the professional development of your mentee, encouraging his/her progress. Emotion and passion are central components to growth. The personal nature of mentorship enables the whole-life engagement in the learning process.

Application:
The best mentoring enables specific application in small steps.
New members in the association and industry need to be given the opportunity to put immediately into effect what they are learning from a mentor.

Guidelines for Effective Meetings:
One of the most difficult tasks a mentor must prepare for is to let the new member take the initiative and practice leading. That role reversal may feel somewhat awkward at first. Two ways to feel more comfortable about this role reversal are to

• Acknowledge that you are spending time helping to shape the future, of the association and
• Reflect on a past mentor of your own, remembering what worked best when you spent time together.

These thoughts may set the tone for a potentially dynamic outcome.

Once a tentative meeting schedule has been arranged and several topics identified for discussion, Mentors literally sit back, relax and enjoy the conversation.

Discuss topics on business and life. Even though new members of the association are given a reference sheet of questions and are responsible for developing their own questions, be prepared to cover these areas”

• Career changes
• Educational path
• Continuing education
• Leadership Role in IAAM
• Challenging events, pivotal or peak experiences
• Future plans, role models
• Family and special friendships

Respond directly to questions. When someone asks a question that seems too personal or out of context with the professional conversation, simply say you “would rather not discuss it.” Some people prefer to take a passive approach or adopt an avoidance method. In general, however, everyone benefits from genuine, direct and honest answers, especially when practicing how to say “no.”

Probe to find common interests. Some younger members to the association are shy and uncertain about themselves while talking with seasoned leaders in the industry. If a conversation, particularly in the first or second meeting, feels stilted and uncomfortable, then it is most appropriate to veer away from the prepared agenda and probe for more common interests. Sometimes, just finding out that both people share a mutual delight in golf or reading eases tension. Once that sense of shared interest exists, a real exchange of ideas can result.

Establish trust.
New members to the association look for concrete examples of integrity when they meet with mentors, from the first phone call to the last handshake. When we follow through on what we commit to do, regardless of the task’s importance in our lives, we send a clear message: We can be counted on. New members to the association can learn a lot from mentors.

Expectations, when clearly delineated, help establish trust. When first meeting, via telephone, in person, or over the internet, it is important to talk about what each wants out of the mentor/mentee relationship.

Conclude the mentorship.

The final meeting should center on bringing issues to a close. It is a good time to reflect on the mentorship and talk about the positive changes that occurred for each person. In no way does this mean that the professional relationship must end. That would be up to the two individuals.

New IAAM Member Information

Participate!
In today’s marketplace, the value, if not the necessity, of being proactive in securing knowledge and advice from Industry professionals has never been greater. Every mentorship experience is beneficial.

Benefits

• Gain from your mentor’s knowledge, skills, values and expertise.
• Grow through greater awareness of challenges and opportunities.
• Receive critical feedback in key areas, such as communications, interpersonal relationships, technical abilities and leadership skills.
• Develop a sharper focus on what is needed to grow personally and professionally.
• Learn specific skills and knowledge that are relevant to professional and personal goals.
• Gain knowledge about the IAAM culture and unspoken rules that can be critical for success in the industry.

Expectations

• Be ready, willing and able to devote your time and energy.
• Submit a current resume.
• Complete an Interview/Orientation form

As a participant in the Mentor Program, you are a representative of your respective company, therefore, held to a very high standard of conduct.

As a participant, you are expected to

• Initiate contact to schedule meeting(s).
• Research the business, organization and individual.
• Plan and present each meeting’s agenda.
• Open and close each mentor meeting.
• Meet with your mentor at regular intervals.
• Reply to email messages and phone calls within two days.
• Fulfill your commitment to your mentor and the mentoring process.
• Evaluate the program and your mentor at the conclusion of your mentorship.
• Contact the IAAM World Head Quarters immediately with any concerns regarding your mentoring relationship or the overall program.

As in most endeavors, the more you put into the program, the more you get out of it.

Find out about your mentor: In addition to the personal profile you receive, do research the mentor prior to the visit. Look for boards on which they serve, awards received, or recent newspaper articles about their company.

Research the mentor’s company, function and industry. Mentors represent a wide group of companies, functions and industries. Prepare yourself by researching the intricacies of each of these areas. The better prepped you are, the more you will understand during mentor meetings.

Communicate respectfully and responsibly. Clarify your expectations. Discuss with your mentor any personal expectations you have regarding levels of contact or content exchanges. The better you communicate your interests before the relationship begins, the more you and your mentor will get out of it.

Ask the right questions. Give thought to questions you will ask before you meet with your mentor. You can start with the list provided and/or come up with your own. Make them strategic for your own growth and adjust as the mentorship progresses.

Be flexible. Mentors are busy, so be flexible regarding places and times to meet with them. When geographically feasible, you may want to offer to meet for coffee or talk on the phone. Be considerate of and show appreciation for your mentor’s time. Mentors are volunteers!

Accept a subordinate, learning position. Don’t let ego get in the way of learning. Trying to impress the mentor with your knowledge or ability will set up a mental barrier between you both. It will prevent you from receiving what he/she is giving.

Bring in current news or propose discussing a hot topic in the industry. Discussing a real-life business situation will increase the impact of the visit. Creating active dialogue around a hot issue is an interesting way to learn about the way your mentor approaches business decisions.

Leave time for Q&A. Make sure you build in enough time for a Q&A session at the end of each meeting.