The power of mentors: finding mentors and becoming mentors

English link : Be a mentor, find a mentor by Speider Schneider

Guide: author Speider Schneider, previously a member of the MAD Magazine "Gang of Idiots" for Disney/pixar, Warner Bros., Harley-davidson, ESPN, Mattel, DC and Marvel Comics, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and other well-known companies design products . Speider is a member of the Graphic Artists Guild Committee, the co-chairman of the GAG Professional Practices Association, and Society's illustrators member. His Twitter @speider.

In my earlier post on the web, I mentioned looking for mentors . Everyone in the article replied that they should look for a mentor, and that they really need a mentor, but no one knows how to find a mentor. After posting the article, I received a bunch of emails hoping to be a teacher or guide me through the search for mentors. As I promised them, I'll give you all the answers in this article.

The relationship can be traced back to prehistoric Neanderthals (and burrowing women). At that time, the older members of the tribe were about 16 years old and would teach other underage tribe members how to avoid saber-toothed tigers, make spears, clean and produce saber-toothed tigers, and other survival skills , such as getting out of the cave for convenience.

People have time to teach young people during meetings and when the BlackBerry has not been invented. Over time, human beings can reach the age of 32 by evolutionary life and invent apprenticeships to train their craft descendants. The apprentices will go to the store to help when the master is not busy, such as tapping the cask, repairing the soles, or flunken the gerflunkenheisers until dawn.

The guidance is like the modern Gerflunkenheiser flunkening. It does not disappear, and you will be surprised to find that it is so common .

Gerflunkenheiser flunkening, Flunke Devin said the shovel dug into the underground part, here did not find the meaning of gerflunkenheiser. It is understood in context as a handicraft done with a spade tip.

I am fortunate that my mentor is the teacher of the art school. They found my latent talent and drove me forward. As adults, they will forgive me for my immaturity. Vitality and a bad attitude. The guidance I received included various chores in the studio, invitations to cocktail receptions and activities in the industry. Being invited to participate in these activities in my own capacity is not to be thought of. Also, I can stop by to visit their studios or offices, chat with them, and watch their daily routines.

I've learned a lot from them. They teach me business experience and I can see how they respond in difficult situations . I'm going to be introduced to some of the best people in the industry, like illegal chicken fights, and sometimes I get sent to a nasty innovation or quiz game. It was a really memorable time.

What can you get from the guide?

Partners who grow up with you in the same group, they are at the same level as you. Some of them grow faster and leave your group; others fall behind and disappear from the group. Throughout the process, although they will provide support and sympathy in a "Freemasonry" way, they cannot provide help from mentors .

The mentor has gone through the mistakes you made. He or she has been able to deal with pain and headaches and can lead you in the right direction. They are the kind of people that you can look for and ask to improve yourself in those areas. You can also learn from them how to make money and how to make your career a step further. a mentor is both a teacher and your guardian angel and friend . You will progress more than you can on your own, and move forward like the speed of light. They will tell you the information and feedback directly, which is not available anywhere else. It's like a family school, where parents are famous designers, and you get a caring, one-off attention.

With this help, you'll feel like you're suddenly getting a helping hand as you trek around somewhere. Whether you're in the business of developing your career with a tortuous freelancer, or in the face of weird office politics and power struggles, mentors are there to provide you with smart advice . And all you have to do is follow the advice.

Why would anyone want to guide you?

Many professionals feel that coaching juniors is a reward for the industry. Some think it is a kind of good (karma), and others because they like to help juniors. When I am helping juniors enter this field and use the right information to complete a professional work, I can experience these feelings at the same time, and they make the industry stronger. In almost every article I've written, I'll report Brain singer, the genius director and altitude Associates Founder's famous quote:

"Get the leading approach in design ... is to carry the people around you. ”

I have mentioned in the article several times that I do not like to be treated at my alma mater, but I am a generous person who can help the students from my alma mater. I was able to identify their talents and wanted to encourage those who had the talent and career ideals.

As an art director at the headquarters of the New York Publishing Company, I received a telephone call from my alma mater's art department to discuss the admission of interns. I don't care about his endless tirade, and as far as possible not to yell at him on the phone just keep listening. Of course I want an intern, although he doesn't know that I have hired some students from school.

"I don't want them to be in the company just for coffee or copy material," he asked. "I want them to really do the magazine!" ”

I whispered to three," you couldn't have asked that," I said. I think he made a rude request either based on the fact that I had been unfairly treated at school for so many years and I now have some power, or he is a fool. I believe it must be the latter.

"I hired some students from school and they seem to be happy to make coffee and copy stuff here," I said calmly, "when I was a student, I had to pay my own money to get into the press, so long as they needed me to clean the floor with my tongue."

This makes me realize the important point: your attitude towards others will always accompany you! be nice to others when you're on top, because you'll need their help early in the evening.

Borrow a word " people will forget what you say and do, but never forget how they feel about you." " Dr. Maya Angelou said. In fact, people will remember all things, so pay attention to the way you treat others!

Where to find a mentor?

You can find a teacher in an art school like me as a mentor. Although some state laws do not allow teachers and students to be friendly or to make friends on Facebook, you and they can maintain a purely teacher-student relationship. Once you leave school, there is no problem with the mentor relationship.

Maybe you're not in art school, or the school teacher hates you, and maybe they don't deserve to be your mentor. So will your family know anyone in this field? The father of one of my best friends is a big shot in the advertising industry, and every time I visit his office, he gets a welcome. My grandfather repaired the car for others and the customers were happy to help me visit their office or watch them work. My uncle is a gangster, those who owe him "favor" are happy to see me and answer my questions, and provide me with office furniture, appliances and cigarettes. Families can greatly help you find a mentor.

If you don't have a teacher and your family has passed away, or if you have no relatives in a federal prison for 20, you still have the help to find your mentor: Make a request to someone else. Are there any designers in your neighborhood that you admire? Write them a tactful letter asking if they would like to be your mentor. Send them a lunch every month so that you can chat informally with them about the design. If they are satisfied with you, they are likely to become interns or get a job.

Perhaps this mentoring relationship is only communicated through the Internet. It's not as easy to communicate with each other by email, but it's better than nothing. Many young innovators read my articles and email me, and I basically gave them a reply. Most of them will thank me and be amazed that I will read their questions carefully and give a reply. Maybe one day when they need to hire freelance writers, will they remember this and pity me?

Some people will reject or not reply to your email, but gradually you will find those who are willing to be your mentor. When you find, please cherish this fate don't mess things up!

If the teacher is not able to become a mentor, then try other ways, such as from the family to find one, or family friends, or even through e-mail to seek a person, although not as direct as the face, but better than No.

The taboo of teacher-pupil relationship

You've been chosen by your mentor, and you've got what many other innovators want, and they'll be waiting for you to screw up or die ... Or both, so they can take your place.

Unfortunately, I've seen too many people get the chance to screw up . They had to be embarrassed to explain to friends and family that I was fired because I had to leave my job for 4 hours at work. In order not to let the security guard out of the building when the tears of the matter again, please let me list for you free from heartbreak and professional suicide of the important list:

1. Don't be late! If I need to wait 20 minutes to 1 hours before you show up, it's not respectful to me, my time has been my plan.

2. Don't plagiarize! Yes, it did happen, so I restricted the people who were able to access my office.

3. Do not refuse any work! While some people ask interns not to do things like copying and coffee, you have to start at the bottom. Even if you are doing the bottom job, you are ahead of the others who are not in the internship or have no contact with your mentor.

4. Act as instructed! I had to fire some interns because I was "shocked" when I checked out the tasks they had done.

5. Respect your mentor! If you post some negative news from a mentor on Facebook, they'll soon know. Remember those people who wanted you to screw up or die? They will be delighted to see your boss/mentor see the News.

6. Work hard! when your bosses and mentors see that you are seriously responsible for your work, they will see the time spent on you and the trust you have in return. If you don't care about your work, then why do we need to care about you?

7. Help others! Pass the good deed down. We help you, you help others, and they will help the next one and continue to pass on.

Why you need to be a mentor?

We paid "tuition" to spend years to fight the top floor ... or middle, but we should remember how difficult this process is. We should say to them, "Endure!" Like I did before, " or nurturing compassion and helping young people who need to catch their breath?" More importantly, should we help the next generation and maintain the health of the industry by not letting them be told by their bosses that " I can find someone cheaper than you"?

Business thinking has changed in the past few years. When I step into this field, I need to have relevant experience before I work this 22nd rule makes us annoyed. Now, hiring young people reduces costs and becomes a new hiring habit. Older employees are dismissed, and there is no possibility of free-flow learning within the company , and young people are no longer guided by old employees and lack of growth training. It should be natural for young people to receive guidance from their predecessors and become mentors to their younger generation. This natural requirement may be abandoned by economic and foolish business decisions, but we, as innovators, should follow this natural need and continue along this path .

We will teach, write articles, become teachers, and you will take over our work and spit out what we have done to retire safely. You young punks! We will still pass our experience to the next generation in a natural order, though no one will appreciate it.

Socrates has said about this question:

Today's children love luxuries, they behave badly, they despise authority, they do not respect the elders, and they like to chatter about the place of practice. In their own homes they were not servants but tyrants, chattering in front of the guests, devouring the delicious food on the table, legs, and behaving very overbearing with the teacher.

Plato has Socrates as a mentor, and you should find someone and protect it. Just remember to stay away from the mentors who want you to wear toga.

Toga: The loose burqa worn by Roman men.

Have you found your mentor or become someone else's mentor? Please share your story with us!

The power of mentors: finding mentors and becoming mentors