Launching ISACA’s Mentorship Program was a labor of love: meticulously crafting the connection plan, reviewing each member communication at least twice, pouring over pilot participant feedback. While I knew we would gain a lot of insight from participants to improve the program post-launch, it did not stop me from wanting it to be as close to perfect as possible for our members right away. I knew how eagerly our community of digital trust professionals was waiting for this much-needed career tool.
What I have learned while managing the program over the past five months, however, is that no matter what perfect or imperfect tool is provided, what really matters is the human connection – finding the right professional partner to truly elevate your growth and learning. Sure, the tools of a structured program make working together and staying organized a lot easier. Our connection plan provides a lot of structure and guidance for those who want it. But each mentor-mentee connection will use the tools differently to facilitate their own working styles and overall goal. The right partner is the key to success.
This is not an “aha” moment, and others have talked about it before. Along those lines, check out this @ISACA article by career strategist Caitlin McGaw, detailing the value of professional mentorship. And in this recent ISACA Live segment, ISACA Board Director Veronica Rose compares finding the right mentors to building your own professional board of directors – one that serve you your whole career.
As we celebrate International Mentoring Day today, ISACA is committed to enabling mentors and mentees to find the right professional partners. Our program helps support and encourage matches based on a unique matching algorithm, pulling information from an in-depth user profile. Further, program participants can use specific search criteria to find the right connection in the mentor or mentee directory.
And while this technology is impressive, we again know that the “human element” matters. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide if they are compatible in a way that will allow them to find success through mentorship. Our program is structured to help with this through mentee-led matching, and we also share advice for how to connect with other participants throughout the matching process. While it is an important task, finding the right mentor or mentee doesn’t have to be intimidating. For those of you who are currently searching, here’s some advice I frequently share with program participants:
- Mentees are the catalyst for a connection, as the onus is on them to issue requests to mentors in the program. Why? Because only the mentee knows what goal they want to accomplish through mentorship, so they can search for a mentor accordingly. Therefore, it’s crucial that a mentee understands why they are seeking mentorship before embarking on a mentor search. How can you know who is best suited to support you if you don’t know what you need support for? Don’t rush into finding a partner without first understanding how the program works and what you want to get from it.
- Mentors must also do their due diligence before accepting a request, making sure they understand the mentee’s goal and can help support it. It is perfectly OK, and preferred, to turn down a connection request if a mentor feels they are not the right fit. Mentors are highly encouraged to ask clarifying questions and to get to know a mentee before agreeing to formally work with them.
- Expectations should be established from the very beginning. It is okay to be honest about what you need and want from mentorship, and the opposite. A mentee who wants to meet weekly might discover their potential mentor is only available once a month. Neither person is “wrong,” however they may not be the most compatible. It is much better to establish expectations from the beginning, instead of addressing them after they have not been met and you have already formalized your mentorship.
Once someone has matched in the program, my advice is to keep the lines of communication open and maintain a mutually respectful and honest partnership. Work on developing a relationship and establishing trust to make sensitive conversations easier. Having this kind of rapport also makes it easier to ask for flexibility or guidance when you may need it. And if your partner is not meeting agreed upon expectations and norms, start a polite and professional conversation about how this can be rectified immediately. These kinds of conversations can be hard, so just remember that it’s not personal, but part of working in a professional capacity together.
The ISACA Mentorship Program has become an essential way for digital trust professionals to meet and connect with each other, providing a technology-powered environment to find and learn from like-minded professionals. While we hope our platform is a useful resource, it is the humans in the program, the mentors and mentees dedicated to professional development, who have made it a huge success so far. Feedback we have gathered from program participants reinforces how much they value the opportunity to learn from each other – as one participant put it, the program has been “a great opportunity for me to connect with another professional who has been open to sharing his experience and gave me useful guidance that I am already using in my current job.”
Examples like that tell me ISACA Mentorship is already making a difference for our global community, with even greater impact to come. We are so proud of our members for showing up for each other, and for themselves, by joining the program.
If you are an ISACA member and eager to learn more, come join us at mentorship.isaca.org.