Exactly what my mentor can help me with.
There are so many people in my world that I think would be great as a mentor. But my mentor and I have chosen each other. My new mentor was already working with me to help guide my choices, in IAIP. Now I'll get to have her input in the rest of my career.
My mentor is Margie Brown. She is the gal who fits all my requirements. Margie is a member of my local association. She has several years experience in the insurance industry, a great sense of humor and a view of the bigger picture. Margie is not dismissive of my ideas and is ready to help me think them through - giving me the honest and helpful guidance I'm looking for.
I'm looking forward to having her input and insight to my unique issues. We've been spending time together in our Confidence While Communicating (CWC) class that she co-instructs. We've also had our first mentoring meeting over a long lunch at a small bistro restaurant that a catering company opened up for business lunches. The topics we discussed included where I was in my career, what kind of professional relationships I have and where I would like to be heading.
One of the ideas I'm very interested in is possibly conducting classes on a regular basis. I like the idea of teaching insurance and business classes. I've already conducted a presentation at our local association on the topic of "Work Life Balance" but that was before the speaking class, and it was a presentation rather then a class. The CWC classes are the beginning of this interest for me. Margie picked up on this and has given me the assignment of choosing a class from the available IAIP topics and giving that class to our local association. I won't be able to give the class until one of next year's IAIP meetings, but that will give me the time to choose a class and study the instructor's book.
My mentor and I will be talking on the phone and meeting again soon to review my progress and have another of those long talks. I'm looking forward to it.
