GHC 2018 – Mentoring

GHC 2018 – Mentoring

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Time: 11:30-2; 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Location: GRB Grand Ballroom B

Findings Mentors and learning from other women at GHC

Grace Hopper Convention is one of the top places for women in stem to learn from other women who have travelled their own paths in the world of technology.  Finding the right people to learn from can be hard but luckily it can also be easy.  You can attend GHC Mentoring Circles AND Speed Mentoring.

Speed Mentoring: Start Time: 3:00 PM | End Time: 5:30 PM 

This is an informal mentoring format.  You can drop in and chat with a variety of mentors in an easy going format.  No themes, no agendas, just tips and sharing from women that have been there done that to help you navigate your career, technology, and life!

Length per mini-session: 6 minutes for 1:1 / 15 minutes in round tables of 9

Number of mentors: 146

Format style: informal

Special feature:  New set of mentors every hour!

GHC Mentor Circles    Start Time: 11:30 AM | End Time: 2:00 PM | 

This is a more formal mentoring format.  There will be tables that hold up to 10 people at them at a time.  There is a mentor (or 2) at each table who has developed a formal application related to their mentoring topic (see topics here). 

Length per mini-session: 20 minutes in round tables of 9

Number of mentors: 50+

Format style: more formal

Special feature:  pre-reviewed Mentor Topics. See: Mentoring Circle topics

How to mentor mentors on being a mentor?

by: Mary Anne Melloy, Anita|Bees Mentor Committee Member

Do you consider yourself a mentor? Interested in being a mentor? Have volunteered for the speed mentoring at GHC '18. I wanted to share some of my tips and best practices for those that want to be a mentor…. now or in the future.

Best Tips and Practices to utilize when mentoring a mentee:

• Listen. I mean really listen. Be careful of starting the answer (in your head) before the mentee has finished asking the question. This will alleviate any misunderstanding of the question asked or information given. It may also prompt more questions if it is a group mentoring session. 
• Be prepared to back up advice with a story or example. The best advice I have ever received has been through storytelling on my mentors’ part and I have had some great mentors! It’s the stories that stick with you. 
• It’s all about the networking! Recommend resources and people. It is okay to have a cheat sheet of your favorite books, URLs, quotes, etc. to utilize when speaking to a mentee. 
• Find out how to link up with the mentees to continue a conversation. This is especially important if you are mentoring during a conference and need to move on to another appointment. 
• Pass on your LinkedIn profile for future connections. You never know who you are inspiring, but guaranteed you are inspiring to someone, somewhere. My best example of this was when I decided to achieve my bachelor’s degree (Yes, I was one of those late in lifers 😊). I was able to encourage others to achieve their goals. I became part of their support network. This was a pleasant surprise since I never set out to do this. It taught me that inspiration comes from very simple acts and encouragement comes from anyone and everyone around us. 
• Think about the who, what, when, where and why people are seeking a mentoring relationship. Drawing on your experience, figure out which are the most appropriate questions to ask and see what you can offer to your mentee. Another technique that is very valuable to use (and yes, my past mentors have used it on me) is the 5-whys. The 5- whys is designed for root cause analysis, but by answering the simple “why” question(s), it helps a person focus what matters most. The 5-whys has been equated to peeling away the layers on an onion so think of this technique as…. you are helping your mentee peel away their layers until they can focus on what matters most to them. Want to know about this particular technique, check out this resource. 

So, you still want to be a mentor? My final piece of advice is to look at the mentoring relationship as “what can I give?” and not as “what will I get?”. One day, your mentee might be sending you the same advice you gave them…that is when you know the mentee has become the mentor.

Resources:  

• The 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership – John Maxwell
•  Free download
• Everyday Leadership (TEDx video) by Drew Dudley
• First Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman 
• Great Overview Video by Callibrain

Volunteer at this year's GHC!

Ever considered not just attending Grace Hopper this year, but also giving back? Whether it's your first time attending, or you're a multi-year veteran, volunteering in some way is a great way to enhance your experience.

I've been volunteering with the conference since 2008, my first year there. For many of those years, I served as as a volunteer blogger. Starting as a blogger opened up all kinds of opportunities for me, including being on the Anita|Bees committee. The women I've met have become members of my professional network as well as friends. My blog got more attention and I felt a lot of fulfillment by sharing my views of conference sessions with the world.

Volunteering as a blogger or note taker is just one way to participate in the conference. You can also be a mentor for GHC scholars, open source day, or one of three speed mentoring sessions. If you have a PhD degree or higher, you can even judge the ACM student research competition.

Not attending GHC in person this year? You can still be a volunteer blogger / note taker for sessions that are streamed.

So don't wait, go sign up to be a volunteer today! Get all the details on the opportunities and a link to apply on the conference website.