#102 - Mentorship, Sponsorship, and A Message to Garcia

Hello, and welcome to another episode of CISO Tradecraft -- the podcast that provides you with the information, knowledge, and wisdom to be a more effective cybersecurity leader.  My name is G. Mark Hardy, and today's episode is about how to better mentor your people (and in doing so, improve yourself as well.)  Mentoring is an important part of being a leader, and I would venture that most listeners have achieved their current level of success with the insights of a mentor, along with a lot of hard work.  Today we're going to give you a template for creating a personal development plan you can use with your team.  I also want to introduce you to a booklet that I keep on my desk.  It was written in 1899.  Do you have any idea what it might be?  Well, keep listening and you'll find out, and you may end up getting yourself a copy of your own.

Let's take a moment to hear from today's sponsor Obsidian Security.

Career success rarely happens independently -- it usually involves multiple milestones, promotions, and sometimes moves.  But success shouldn't be a secret.  As Tony Robbins said, "success leaves clues."  One of the best ways to achieve personal or professional success, or indeed help others do the same, is through mentoring and sponsorship.  But the right person rarely shows up at our doorstep offering us the key to the future -- we have to go out and make that relationship happen.  Today we're going to talk about mentors, protégés, sponsors, and that little booklet that has a repeatable secret for success.

Definitions

Let's start with what is a mentor - the dictionary definition is "an experienced and trusted adviser."  My definition is it's a person with more experience and WISDOM who is willing to provide guidance to someone else -- a protégé.  Notice I didn't say anything about careers -- you can have a spiritual mentor, an academic mentor, and if you're a new grandparent you want to pass along some tips to help raise your grandkids.  You may also hear the term "mentee" instead of protégé -- I see that used from time to time, but it makes me think of those big slow sea creatures that keep getting run over by speedboats.

Mentor

Let's talk about the who, what, when, why, and how of being a mentor.  The WHO part is someone with experience and wisdom willing to share insights.  Insights about WHAT, at least as far as we're concerned today, is usually career-related -- what jobs or assignments may be best, what personal characteristics are important, whom should you meet and why.

The WHEN portion of mentoring is usually a condition of the type of relationship.  A traditional one-on-one mentor relationship may be established formally or informally.  We established a program at work where those willing to offer advice could volunteer as a mentor and those seeking advice could request the assistance of a mentor.  I was asked by our most senior technical security expert if I would serve as his mentor -- an assignment which I was pleased to accept, and we held mentoring sessions quarterly.  Of course, we worked together more frequently than that, but those sessions were specifically about what he could learn from me as a mentor, and what I could do to structure his experiences to help with his personal and career growth.  [Irish whiskey story]

The WHY can be either because there is a mentorship program at your organization (and if there isn't one, do your homework and consider proposing one) or because someone reached out and requested assistance.  Mentoring is not like doing the dishes where anyone can do a competent job.  It requires empathy, communication skills, wisdom, and time commitment.  I'm at the point in my life and career where I actively try to help others who are not as old as I am.  Many times, that's appreciated, but some people seem to pref