Who is YOUR Mentor? What Have You Learned?

By LWG Editor:

Who doesn’t love Dilbert? Most of us will get a chuckle out of the Dilbert comic strip about mentoring. But, this week, the League is wrapping up Mentoring Month sharing INSPIRING mentorship stories and tidbits! Included in today’s post are mentoring moments from ICMA Mountain Plains Senior Advisor Karen Daly.

If you have 5-15 minutes and can answer the following questions and email back to INFO@LeagueOfWomenInGovernment.org by the end of this week, we would LOVE to feature your mentoring experience in next week’s LWG newsletter! Just answer the following questions:

Who was/is your mentor?

How did s/he influence/help you in your career?

Any special advice/important tidbit of knowledge you will always remember and share with others?

Example:

Who was/is your mentor?

My mentor has always been my first City Manager in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA – Paul Bussey. Paul is 30 years older (and still wiser!). He promoted me to the Assistant City Manager position when I was only 29 years old. I’ve been a career assistant ever since.

How did s/he influence/help you in your career?

Paul believed in teaching by showing. He would often invite me to meetings with elected and other officials that, frankly, I had no knowledge or experience to justify being there. He would say, this is a listening opportunity for you to hear and learn. This provided a great opportunity for me to listen to the details and the tempo of the meeting to be prepared as the year went on.  As I worked six years beside Paul, I learned a lot. It didn’t take long before I was able to contribute to those meetings. Obviously, I learned a lot from Paul in those years that I still reflect on today, but listening first to understand is the one that sticks with me the most!

Any special advice/important tidbit of knowledge you will always remember and share with others?

Early on in my career, Paul always said, “Don’t make a decision until you have to.” I, honestly didn’t understand that advice until many years later. In other words, don’t stress or jump to a decision when the situation is fluid. Best. Boss. EVER!

We grow by sharing our experiences with others so the knowledge is beneficial to others. Read inspiring moments below and share YOURS today!

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Mentoring Moment from Karen Daly, ICMA Mountain Plains Senior Advisor:

Who was your mentor?  My first mentor was Bill Pitstick.  He was known in Texas at the COGFather because he served as the Executive Director of the North Central Texas COG.  Prior to that appointment, he was city manager in three Texas cities.
 
How did he influence/help you in your career?  I was Mr. Pitstick’s (I never called him Bill) first female Assistant to the Executive Director.  All of his prior Assistants had gone on to be city managers and that was his expectation of me.  He introduced me to many influential Texas managers and encouraged my professional development through membership in ICMA.  He gave me his ICMA membership pin as a token of the confidence he had in me.  I still treasure that pin.
 
Any special advice/important tidbit of knowledge you will always remember and share with others?  Mr. Pitstick’s advice was simple and impactful – “Don’t burn bridges.”  This has saved my bacon on more than one occasion when I’ve wanted to quickly reply to an issue or statement.  I’ve learned to take my time with my response (pause!) and measure my words in order to maintain a relationship that may be beneficial in the future.

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