Photo Rick Roach

The scenario is all-too-common in public safety communications: A long-time manager or director of a comm center is getting ready to retire, and, suddenly, there’s a mad scramble. Certain duties have always been done by this particular individual, and now no one knows who will pick them all up.Other questions arise:Should you promote from within your agency and/or advertise the position locally, statewide or nationally? Who on the staff has the knowledge to handle the position? Why didn’t we think about this eventuality sooner? Why didn’t we plan better?

Introduction
As in other fields, aspiring comm center leaders require role models and guidance. This is especially true in emergency communications. An increasing number of our managers are opting for work outside the comm center in the private sector or leaving to start careers in other fields. At some point during your career, you may have considered mentoring a newly hired telecommunicator but dismissed the idea, thinking it wouldn’t be worth your time and energy. It may be time to rethink your decision. Being a mentor is more important than ever before, and you may get more out of the relationship than you think.

What Is a Mentor?
A mentor affects the professional life of a protégé by fostering insight, identifying needed knowledge and expanding growth opportunities. This assistance supplements the coaching an individual should already be receiving from their direct supervisor. Although the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines amentoras “a trusted counselor or guide,” traditionally the mentoring relationship consists of a more experienced person providing guidance and advice to an associate with less experience. The associate is looking to move up the career ladder, usually by learning from someone who is successful and well respected.

Why Become a Mentor?
Mentoring gives you the extraordinary opportunity to facilitate a protégé’s personal and professional growth by sharing the knowledge you’ve accumulated through your years of experience. Although the primary intent of your mentoring role is to challenge the protégé to think in new and different ways, the protégé is not the only one who gains from the arrangement. As a mentor, there are various ways you can benefit. Mentoring allows you to:

• Enhance your skills. The experience you gain by mentoring can facilitate your own professional growth, making you more of an asset to your comm center. Mentoring allows you to strengthen your coaching and leadership skills by working with individuals from different backgrounds and with different personality types.Example:As a mentor, you can help bridge the gap between generations that have varying workplace values and styles, such as baby boomers and generations X and Y. Your ability to manage people different from youself is a valuable commodity, especially as the workplace continues to grow and become more diverse.
• Improve your performance. By your setting a good example for your protégé, you can improve your performance. Knowing that you are responsible for providing appropriate and accurate guidance to them will motivate you to work harder. Further, it can give you a fresh perspective on your performance.
• Develop and retain your organization’s talent. Your role as a mentor contributes to the success of your entire organization. As a comm center supervisor, manager or director, you know the importance of developing and retaining good employees. By priming promising employees to become top-performing managers and providing them with the challenges, support and commitment necessary to succeed at your agency, your mentoring efforts effectively address succession planning and retention. On a different note, establishing a mentoring program assists in identifying and developing internal talent and provides upper-level management the option of promoting from within.
• Create a legacy. By becoming a mentor, you create a legacy that has a lasting impact on your protégé and the emergency communications field. Not only will you gain the satisfaction of helping to develop future management talent, the knowledge you foster in your protégé can inspire new ideas for generations to come. Through mentoring, you can help carry on your organization’s legacy by passing on its values and mission to your protégé. 

What It Takes
Being a mentor requires interest, commitment and confidence in your own abilities. It also requires you to be sincerely interested in someone else’s growth. You won’t win any awards, but you will have the satisfaction of having done an important job.

Is there one element that can make or break the mentoring relationship? The reality is that each relationship will be influenced by a variety of factors. While one mentor relationship may progress smoothly, another relationship may take more time to develop. If you find that the relationship isn’t going as planned, make changes. Remember that the underlying goal is to create an opportunity for open dialogue and feedback between an experienced operator and an underling looking for guidance and wisdom.

Conclusion
Although mentoring can be a truly rewarding experience, becoming a mentor is a big decision and one that should not to be taken lightly. The benefits to you, your comm center and the overall emergency communications professional, however, can be well worth your effort.

About the Author
Raphael M. Barishansky is the chief of public health emergency preparedness for the Prince George’s County (Md.) Health Department and a frequent contributor to various publications. Contact him at rbarishansky@gmail.com.