Blog

4 Lessons I Learned from Mentoring (Blog Post)

February 28, 2017

Throughout my life, I’ve had the good fortune of meeting amazing people who have mentored me along the way. I consider myself blessed to have met these people, as they’ve all played a significant role in shaping the person I am today.

Early in my career I didn’t thoroughly understand what mentorship was or how it worked. I was lucky that my mentor relationships formed organically, but as my career progressed I began to understand how much of an impact my mentors had on me, and that I too made an impact on them.

The most important thing I learned is that mentorship is a two-way street. Your mentor is there to listen, to offer advice (remember, constructive criticism is a good thing), and to help in any way he or she can. However, it’s equally important that you offer what you can in return, even if that simply means offering your mentor a different perspective or insight into your world. Believe it or not, you can help mentors as much as they help you, sometimes even more! This reciprocity strengthens the bond and trust between you and your mentor, which can help your relationship grow into something very meaningful for both of you.

Another form of mentorship that resonates with me is peer mentorship, which can sometimes be even more impactful than a traditional mentoring relationship. My peers have supported and taught me so much, and I’ve tried to do the same for them. We’re growing and moving up in the business together, and one day we’ll be leading businesses together, so it’s important to help one another along the way. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Last but not least, once you’ve had some great mentorship experiences, I believe you owe it to yourself and the world to go out there and pay it forward. Whether that is through championing the success of others, or holding someone up through missteps, we can all pay it forward and share what we’ve learned.

If you take away anything from my message, I hope it’s these four key elements to mentorship:

1.    Listening is key: Sometimes mentors mistake hearing for listening. Active listening promotes trust and respect, helps to resolve problems, and promotes better understanding of people.

2.    Mentorship is a two-way street: Being a mentor offers so much more than simply feeling good about helping others. You develop strong leadership skills, gain new perspectives, and the lessons you teach can also serve as reminders to yourself to follow your own good advice!

3.    Peer mentorship is extremely valuable: This is your opportunity to support your peers, while further strengthening your network and building leadership capabilities.

4.    Pay it forward: As a mentor or a colleague, remember to pay it forward throughout your career. Take a new employee for coffee, help someone with a problem, or offer yourself as a mentor to a bright young star. There are so many ways that you can offer your support to others, you’re sure to find a few that resonate with you.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the guest blogger and do not necessarily reflect those of Catalyst. Catalyst does not endorse any political candidates. The post and the comments are presented only for the purpose of informing the public.

Jenn Ocampo-King

2016 Catalyst Canada Honours Champion, Emerging Leader<br><br>Director, Prime Brokerage TD Securities, TD Bank's Wholesale Bank

Jenn Ocampo-King is a passionate and lifelong advocate of inclusion in the workplace and beyond. She started in the industry at 15, living on her own while working to help support her family. Having benefitted from the support and sponsorship of others, Ms. Ocampo-King is dedicated to ensuring that people following behind her receive similar help and guidance in navigating their careers. As a high-potential employee who has won several awards, Ms. Ocampo-King’s influence is felt across TD Securities. The co-founder and chair of the TD Securities Women in Leadership (WIL) Champion Network, she has secured executive sponsorship and buy-in from senior leaders, planned more than 50 mentor/mentee events, co-manages a virtual community on the TD Bank intranet with nearly 200 members, and runs regular networking and panel events with senior-level executives. She also is the Toronto board member for 100 Women in Hedge Funds, a global organization with more than 13,000 members committed to making a difference in their industries and communities through educational programming, professional leverage initiatives, and philanthropy. Ms. Ocampo-King is considered a role model for all women at TD Securities, constantly seeking opportunities to develop junior women and devoting significant time to mentoring. She is an exemplary leader who has made a meaningful impact at TD Securities and beyond, and she continues to influence both corporate and community leaders. The TD Securities Women in Leadership Champion Network The TD Securities WIL Champion Network was established to cascade the work and benefits of TD Bank’s overall WIL network to its Wholesale Bank. Its goals are to engage women at the grassroots level by raising awareness of the WIL’s message of inclusion, development, and advancement and to provide networking opportunities with senior leaders through mentoring connections and leader lunches. Ms. Ocampo-King leveraged senior leadership support for the WIL’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts and engaged them as mentors. She practiced transparent communication to raise awareness about and promote the WIL’s networking and mentoring opportunities, increasing participation within the organization. Ms. Ocampo-King regularly enters into conversations with employees across all levels of TD Securities to discuss what changes they would like to see in the organization as well as what the WIL can do to create an inclusive organizational culture and provide career development opportunities to all. Inclusive Leadership Through Humility and Empowerment The Catalyst model of inclusive leadership includes four key attributes—Empowerment, Accountability, Courage, and Humility (EACH). In both her professional and volunteer work, Ms. Ocampo-King role models humility and empowerment by remaining open to and learning from those who are different from her, such as homeless youths, many of whom she mentors and for whom she advocates tirelessly. She values feedback from others and views it as a positive aspect of all of her relationships. Ms. Ocampo-King also empowers others by consistently encouraging those around her to get involved in TD Securities' D&I initiatives. Her message to those she mentors is that an individual can be a leader at any level of the organization, and that you don’t necessarily need to lead a group to have a positive impact on someone else’s life or career by sharing and offering help. About Jenn Ocampo-King Ms. Ocampo-King joined TD Securities in 2003 as a relationship manager on the Prime Brokerage desk. She is now a Director on the Securities Lending Team and covers a portfolio of large hedge funds and pension plans in North America. She is a co-chair of TD Securities' WIL Champions Network and co-chairs the Associates Challenge for the annual TD Securities Underwriting Hope Campaign & Auction. Within her community, Ms. Ocampo-King is a longtime mentor with Eva’s Initiatives for Homeless Youth; she has served two terms on its board, and currently serves on the organization’s Resource Development and Capital Campaign Committee (CCC). Through the CCC, Ms. Ocampo-King is working to raise more than $10 million to build a new youth homeless shelter in Toronto. She also co-chairs Eva’s Initiative’s Taste Matters Charity Auction, which raises more than $150,000 annually. She lives in Toronto with her husband and six-year-old daughter. She also sits on the Havergal College Parents Association at her daughter's school, and co-chairs the school's Celebration Saturday charity auction, which raises money for the school's community partners. En français.