1.I had been “pushing” for an international assignment for several years. I say “pushing” because I was not completely committed to the idea – maybe 85%. The lacking 15% was due to my fears and apprehensions. I wanted someone to tell me those fears were not valid, I had nothing to worry about. I needed someone to tell me “You are absolutely doing the right thing; you will love it – everything will work out with your wife. You have nothing to worry about”. I never told anyone I wasn’t fully committed. People did raise concerns about my international aspirations. My wife knew I needed that last little “push” but, as she told me many a time – it is a decision I needed to make alone, she could not do it for me. That international assignment never came until I found that extra 15%.
I have been with my company a little over six years now and in that time, I would guess I have had at least 20 mentors. Some I have regular sessions with or exchange of messages, others I might have only spoken to once over a year. Some know “officially” they are a mentor, others do not. Regardless, they have all played a very important role in my career and in my personal life (although they may not know it).
Back in 2018 was when I really started to get my career plan together. I wanted meaningful conversations with my mentors. I needed to see with my own eyes the progress I was making. The plans I developed helped me have targeted discussions with my mentors and show them that I am serious about my progression – I wanted to develop my own roadmap. In one discussion I asked, “How could I get a flavour of an international assignment?”. They responded “Well, why don’t you reach out to functions and see if they are planning to conduct any Field Engineering training for our projects abroad? You could help out and deliver some of the training with your experience”. Now the stars did not align straight away but, several months later I found myself in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. It was brilliant and the experience confirmed for me that an international assignment was something I wanted to explore more.
Fast forward one year later and I start to have deep, intriguing, and thought-provoking discussions. I have tangible actions, clear goals, and a path of how I am going to achieve them. I did not always achieve everything in the timeframes I had set for myself, some never even transpired at all. That is not the point though. I now had a visual representation of my own personal development. My discussions with my mentors were important. Each of them helped guide and navigate my way through the career I have had to date. Some told me exactly what I needed to hear “You married, Mike? Don’t mess that up” (yes, there was originally expletives in that sentence). Others told me things I did not want to hear “You are not ready for this next step”. The best one said, “I am actually going to make this decision for you…”.
When I reflect on my career to date, I am incredibly proud. Not of what I have accomplished, but of far I have come – I can show you with a few bits of paper! To this day I still shudder at how I acted or things I said on previous assignments however, I value it all. Those experiences have shaped me into who I am, and all my mentors have guided me along this path. The more mentors you have, the more signposts you will see – you just need to know where to look.
This story was written by Mike Clapham, an Engineer at Bechtel. To see the original post, go to: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-mentors-mike-clapham/
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