Mentoring: a positive, productive relationship
Mentors are people with more experience who share their knowledge and insights, their wisdom, with people who have less experience. A mentor can support and encourage a new lawyer to make the transition from law school to legal practice, or can guide an experienced lawyer who wants to move from one area of legal practice to another.
“There is an increasing level of interest and awareness about providing formal mentoring programs in law firms today,” says Sonya Kunkel, Senior Director, Catalyst Canada, a research and advisory organization working with businesses and the professions. From her perspective, law firm culture has “shifted”. “Law firms are more sophisticated around understanding [and using] organizational tools” and mentoring is one of them. “Lots of diverse mentoring relationships spring up naturally and spontaneously,” she notes but often women and minorities – lawyers who do not resemble the people in power in the law firm – face “greater exclusion from the informal networks”. Kunkel now sees law firms putting significant resources into mentoring programs to address “all sorts of organizational ills”.
On being a mentor
Mentors listen, and then provide guidance and ideas to their mentees. A mentor may, for example, share strategies for developing successful lawyer / client relationships and for working effectively with challenging clients. A mentor’s experience may help a lawyer struggling to balance the demands of work with a desire to enjoy a rich personal life. And, a mentor’s knowledge of the firm and its culture may be invaluable to a newcomer. While it may sound like being a mentor is all about giving, mentors find that the experience of helping someone get started, or move ahead, is rewarding.
People mentor “because they like to help others”, explains Anita Pizycki, a professional development coach. It is a positive experience to recognize the skills you have developed and appreciate how far you have come. A mentor has more experience than the mentee, but is not necessarily someone nearing the end of his or her career.
Debra Van Ginkle, Watson Goepel Maledy (Vancouver), has been instrumental in establishing the Women Lawyers Forum Mentoring Program. The idea for a mentoring program for women grew out of the recognition that women in practice need support and that they have a greater fall-out rate than men. Van Ginkle finds that women mentors can help newer women lawyers deal with a variety of challenges – from a lack of respect from male colleagues and judges to finding new clients or developing a new practice area. “Women have less access to the collegial thing that happens among men in the firm” and so “women have found themselves creating their own groups.”
The BC program started three years ago and has grown from 50 to 300 participants. Van Ginkle says the mentor / mentee relationships that the group helps to establish are “not hierarchical” and have a “collegial atmosphere”. Mentors must be enjoying the experience as Van Ginkle reports that some of the program’s first mentors are still mentoring the same women and are asking for an opportunity to mentor others. “Mentors get something out of it”, she says, noting that it is “fulfilling” and “makes you feel good” to help other women lawyers in practice.
However, mentoring is definitely not only by women and for women. Ned Steinman, Gowlings (Ottawa), mentors two junior associates. Although he says the expectations of him as a mentor are vague, he takes mentees out to lunch and keeps in touch, finding out what they are learning and what areas of practice they would like to develop.
Dan Pinnington, Director of PracticePro, the Ontario Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company’s claims prevention program, encourages lawyers to become mentors and has published a booklet, “Managing a Mentoring Relationship” to support them. The organization believes mentoring helps law firms retain lawyers and avoid liability (and, therefore, claims against the insurer). “The passing on of skills, knowledge, and wisdom from one person to another” is the essence of mentoring, Pinnington says, and there’s “no doubt that mentoring reduces claims”. “It helps to have someone to talk to, to bounce ideas off, see things you didn’t see”, he adds, noting that mentoring also helps with the “softer skills – how to conduct yourself in the courtroom, deal with a lawyer on the other side”.
Pinnington adds that a mentoring relationship is not always a one-way street. “Reverse mentoring can happen” he says. New lawyers, for example, often have a lot of technological savvy and may end up mentoring their mentors about using a computer program to full advantage.
Steinman, although a partner and experienced lawyer, was pleased when a lawyer with expertise in an area of law of new interest to him joined the firm. “I can learn from this person”, he said.
On being mentored
“Having a mentor is key”, affirms Cheryl Stephens, a former lawyer whose company, Mentor/Muse, focuses on writing and training. Mentors can help you with the technical intricacies of being a lawyer, they can help you identify appropriate professional development opportunities, and they can introduce you to clients. They provide on-going connection and support.
Elizabeth Hyde, responsible for professional development at Miller Thomson, also believes that it is “vital for a new lawyer to have a mentor”. Miller Thomson expects senior lawyers in the firm to mentor juniors and offers a detailed mentor / mentee binder with information on how to make mentoring work. Ms. Hyde says a mentor is a “sounding board, a guide”, someone who will teach you “how to develop your own book of business”. She adds that the firm also sees mentoring as important for lateral hires who have experience with the practice of law but will benefit from a mentor who can help to smooth the transition into the firm.
For Sarah Corman, a new associate at McCarthy Tétrault (Toronto), her two mentors are “excellent at providing me with excellent opportunities”. One of her mentors has just a few more years in practice than she has and is “closer to my experience” and “better able to assist with day-to-day work”. Her other mentor is more senior, a partner who is looking out for her, making sure she has “maximum opportunities”. “My mentors exceed my needs and expectations,” Ms. Corman reports. “They’re fabulous”.
A mentor / mentee relationship may involve regular exchanges of e-mail, a weekly phone call, frequent meetings, or an occasional lunch date. Van Ginkle finds that mentors and mentees sometimes discover creative ways to get together, sharing season’s tickets to the theatre, or going for a Sunday morning run.
Regardless of age and career stage, a mentor can provide invaluable insights and advice.
In a productive mentoring relationship, the mentor, the mentee, and the law firm, benefit. It is therefore no wonder that mentoring programs are spreading from the corporate business world to the legal world.
Five qualities of an effective mentor
An effective mentor:
- Stays in touch with a mentee and is pro-active about maintaining the connection.
- Remembers what it was like and shares both negative and positive experiences in a helpful way.
- Provides constructive feedback and non-judgmental advice.
- Looks out for a mentee’s professional development and interests.
- Listens more; talks less.
Five ways for a mentee to get the most out of a mentor relationship:
- Look for a mentor with whom you feel comfortable, someone you respect and trust.
- Be honest about your expectations of the mentor/mentee relationship.
- Be honest in your conversations. If you see your mentor as only a path to your next job promotion, then the relationship is on the wrong track.
- Accept feedback openly. You don’t have to do everything a mentor suggests but you need to appreciate the mentor’s experience and insights.
- Learn from the experience so that you can become an effective mentor.
Both mentors and mentees should respect the confidentiality of their conversations.
Resources
PracticePro’s Mentoring Booklet
Women Lawyers Forum Mentoring Program
Law societies with mentoring programs:
