How can you identify the right mentor for your career in Operational Planning?

1 Define your objectives

Before you start looking for a mentor, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve from the mentorship. What are your specific goals, challenges, and areas of improvement in operational planning? What kind of support, guidance, and feedback are you looking for? How do you prefer to communicate and learn from your mentor? By defining your objectives, you can narrow down your search and focus on finding a mentor who can meet your expectations and needs.

2 Research potential mentors

Once you have your objectives in mind, you can start researching potential mentors who have relevant expertise, experience, and reputation in operational planning. You can use various sources to find potential mentors, such as online platforms, professional associations, industry events, alumni networks, or personal referrals. You can also look within your own organization for senior colleagues or managers who have demonstrated operational planning skills and leadership. When researching potential mentors, look for indicators of their credibility, compatibility, and availability. For example, you can check their profiles, portfolios, testimonials, publications, or awards to assess their credibility. You can also look for common interests, values, or backgrounds to gauge their compatibility. Moreover, you can consider their current roles, responsibilities, or commitments to estimate their availability.

4 Evaluate the fit and follow up

After you have reached out and built rapport with a few potential mentors, you need to evaluate the fit and follow up with them. You need to assess how well they match your objectives, personality, and learning style. You also need to consider how comfortable, confident, and motivated you feel with them. You can use your intuition, feedback, or criteria to evaluate the fit. Once you have evaluated the fit, you need to follow up with your potential mentors and let them know if you want to proceed with the mentorship or not. If you want to proceed, you can thank them for their time and interest, and propose a formal agreement that outlines the scope, duration, frequency, and format of the mentorship. If you do not want to proceed, you can also thank them for their time and interest, and politely decline the offer or suggest an alternative arrangement.

5 Maintain the relationship and review the progress

After you have found and agreed with your mentor, you need to maintain the relationship and review the progress of the mentorship. You need to respect your mentor's time, expertise, and feedback. You also need to communicate regularly, honestly, and effectively with your mentor. You need to follow through on your action plans, assignments, or recommendations. You also need to seek and provide constructive feedback, recognition, and support. Moreover, you need to review the progress of the mentorship periodically and adjust your goals, strategies, or expectations as needed. You also need to celebrate your achievements, challenges, and learnings with your mentor. The purpose of this step is to sustain a productive, rewarding, and enjoyable mentorship that benefits both you and your mentor.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?