mentorship

Arrrgh blog!  How I hate the blog!  But I will force myself to do this!  Arrrrrrrgh!

Had a yummy bacon cheeseburger at Applebee's yesterday.  It was spicy and cheesy, went down great, but gave me trouble a bit later.  Butt anyway.

I think I have a mentor.  Don Burrows, author of Resume's That Resume Careers.  He treated me to lunch yesterday to talk about some upcoming videos for his site, and kicked things off by getting into what is unique about me...what is unique about what I bring to my field in the world of work. 

Some resources that he recommends for discovering this are Creating You and Co. by William Bridges, The Consultants Calling by Geoffrey Bellman, and Built to Sell by John Warrilow.   I've picked up and started the Bridges book and will soon be getting the other two.

So, what do I, uniquely, bring to the world of work?  My unrehearsed go-to is that I provide a painless entry to the world of video....eg: I won't make you wear a chicken suit, but if you want to wear a chicken suit I'll find it for you and help you preserve as much self respect as you care to hang on to.  I listen, "get it," and can provide fast turnaround.  Something I've noticed is that few contractors invest creativity in every client.  Where is the fun in not investing creativity?!?!?  If a client needs a brochure and they're paying you $80/hour, they have approved your cost and a budget.  They should let you know what the ceiling for this budget is.  Then you should have the respect to take at least a half hour of that time...or as little or much as is right...to have some fun with it, use their colors and style guides, give them something more than Helvetica with some borders.  When you present your $240 invoice for a simple brochure that you made because a clients internal staff was overloaded, the client should not raise their eyebrows and wondered why they bothered with you.  They should think of your work fondly, very briefly rationalize the cost, and move on with life.  After saving your contact info, of course :).

Something Don suggested I add to my phrasing is that "I speak tech as well as English."  One thing product line that I've enjoyed creating over the last 2 years is training videos that instruct in the use of web tools.  I'm easily able to work with IT to understand new tools, translate their use into everyday language, then verbally and visually demonstrate the use of the tools in a way that has proven to be effective.  Use of the tools is measured and it jumps by leaps.

Is a mentor something I have sought?  Not actively, I've been hoping to find one, and now as it turns out I'm finding several that are helping me in various parts of my life.  But since this is sort of a work blog....we can categorize it as that after 2 entries, right?...Don is effectively helping me in my work life, and I'm open to the mentorship and enjoying it.  We all have to learn from someone or something, and it's best to be open to whatever the world has to offer and find a way to effectively incorporate it into your life.