Episode #42 - Mentoring... what the world needs right now!

Episode Notes: 

Did you know that since Q1 of 2020, more individuals than ever want a mentor, and more organizations are trying to provide mentoring in the workplace as a learning and development initiative?

As the millennial generation becomes the majority of the workforce, will the outgoing generation of retiring baby-boomer techs be the ones to provide the much-needed mentoring they will need?

Join us this week, as we illuminate the gap between the mentorship the newer workers DESIRE, and that lack of willingness the older techs have to provide that coaching, or even the structure from shop owners to facilitate and promote it…. How do we close the gap, as the future of the service industry hangs in the balance?

Don’t forget to earn your FREE GIFT!

Just rate the Mind Wrench show on iTunes or Spotify, leave a comment (positive kind is the best!) and then send me your name & email address to rickselover51@gmail.com, or IM me on FB Messenger or DM on Instagram @rick_selover. (see links below)

I will email you my “Unstoppable Morning Routine” as my small token of appreciation! 

Visit Rick’s website: www.rickselover.com 

Need one-on-one Mindset or Personal Development coaching? – drop me a note @ www.rickselover.com/services 

Links to all Rick’s Social Media platforms: https://linktr.ee/mindwrench

Help support the show!     https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Mindwrench

Affiliate Links

Need freelance help with your business? Check out Fiverr

Want an easier way to shop? Check out Instacart

Read or listen to Top non-fiction book onBlinkist

Transcript

Episode #42 – Mentoring… what the world really needs right now!

Have you ever bought a new vehicle, but not a common one… let’s say a bright blue Audi SUV... now before you bought it, you never recall noticing one on the road before, but now that you have one, you seem to see them everywhere you look, right?

Or you buy a new pair of running shoes or a jacket and now it seems as if the whole world has those exact shoes or jacket…. Crazy right?

Not crazy, not coincidence... it’s your RAS (reticular activating system) kicking in.

Your reticular activating system is a little part of your brain that has a few incredible functions, but the one we usually realize, but never understood why, is that it acts as a filter, that filters out all the millions of bits of data that enter your brain every second through the eyes, ears, nose & touch to just the few bits of data that are essential to you at that point in time. 

It will automatically hone in on things that are now in your reality, like the new car, shoes or jacket every single time.

Today’s show is not about the RAS (I will dive into that on a separate podcast), but it is important to know that it exists and played a part on today’s topic.

Recently I was thinking about the importance of mentorship, being on both the giving & receiving end throughout my career, and how it is so needed right now in so many industries, especially the collision industry.

So, as this was where my thoughts were, I ran across a few articles on mentorship, and next thing you know, I’m seeing “mentor” everywhere I look, so much so, that I began thinking of all my mentors & reached out to the one that had the most impact on my life, and ended up meeting for lunch just a few days ago.

Thank you, RAS!

So glad I did that (honestly, I think the universe also nudges us to do these things) as we were able to catch-up on each other’s lives, reminisce a bit. I also wanted to make sure he knew how much his mentoring me made an impact on my life, and that was forever thankful for that. I learned that he had mentored many after me, throughout his career, and had also been mentored at an early age.

By the end of lunch, we had made plans to have him be a guest on this podcast very soon…. Should be a great interview & I think you will enjoy it too!

So, what is the purpose of being a mentor or having someone coach or mentor you?

 A mentor is a person who can support, advise and guide you. They usually take the time to get to know you, along with the challenges and obstacles you're facing, and then use their understanding, knowledge and personal experience to help you improve, introducing you to new ways of thinking and challenging your limiting beliefs.

This relationship is additional to a supervisor’s role, and benefits from a more personal and confidential structure. Mentors have the potential to become lifelong friends, or the relationship might only last until you've achieved a goal, there's no one size fits all. Many celebrities have publicly discussed the impact their mentors had on their success, including Christian Dior, Richard Branson, and Oprah Winfrey. Most successful athletes, business leaders and entrepreneurs have had mentors in their lives, and have much to do with their current level of success.

Since the 1st quarter of 2020, more individuals than ever want a mentor, and more organizations are trying to provide mentoring in the workplace as a learning and development initiative.

The purpose of a mentor is to help you excel in your personal live and/or career and become the best version of yourself. This may involve helping you achieve your goals, introducing you to new ways of thinking, challenging your limiting assumptions, teaching you life lessons, and much more.

People choose to mentor as it is a highly rewarding experience. Seeing somebody grow and succeed as a result of your advice is very valuable. There are many benefits of mentoring for the mentor as well as the mentee, such as improving communication and leadership skills.

Mentoring is super beneficial for the one doing the mentoring… Harvard Business Review conducted a study researching the positive effects of mentoring, and found that people who served as mentors also experienced lower levels of anxiety, and described their job as more meaningful, than those who did not mentor.

Here are just a few facts that help illustrate the importance of mentoring:

·        71% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs and...

·        97% of them say they are very valuable

·        Yet only 37% of professionals have a mentor?

·        89% of those who have been mentored will also go on to mentor others

·        Those that are mentored are promoted 5 times more often than those without mentors

·        And mentors themselves are 6 times more likely to be promoted

·        Almost 90% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentoring relationships and have developed greater confidence

So, you may wonder, where does this all come into play within our industry?

A couple dynamics & statistics can shed some light in this…

According to national data, the average age of a collision technician is 43 years old, but in my market, along with many other major markets, the average appears to be closer to early 50’s! (no data to support this, just my observations!)

A growing number of older techs are leaving the marketplace, some retiring, some moving into different, less physically taxing occupations and unfortunately, some expiring…

It is NOT breaking news, nor shocking to hear of this trend, that this is the main factor in our national shortage of available technicians… but the disappointing part of this is, these older techs that are leaving the shops, are not (by & large) doing anything to help pass along their 30-40-or 50 years of experience to the next generation of collision repair… when asked, they simply don’t want to be bothered with this, nor spend the time coaching and mentoring millennials, or Gen Y or Gen Z workers?... sad indeed… so much wisdom to pass along, but no desire to do so!

Now, the other part of this that maybe not everyone understands is, the next wave of folks that will be fixing cars…. And damn-near everything else in the WORLD, is the millennials!

A few facts to be mindful of is:

·        By 2025 (only a couple years from now) millennials will comprise more than 75% of the workforce, and…

·        79% of millennials see mentoring as crucial to their career success, but…

·        63% of millennials say their leadership skills are not being fully developed

·        Millennials intending to stay with their organization for more than 5 years are twice as likely to have a mentor than not (68% vs 32%)

·        A whopping 49% of millennials would, if they had a choice, quit their current jobs in the next two years… really?.... that’s a sobering thought, right?... the main reasons cited for that were: 

1. Not enough opportunities to advance and 

2. Lack of learning & developmental opportunities 

Well shit.... let’s step back & take a look at these 2 scenarios… hmmmm....

I’ll be the first one to tell you I’m not the sharpest pencil in any box, but…

The way I see it, looks like we have a large portion of today’s technicians on their way OUT of this industry (and actually several other service industries), with a wealth of knowledge, technical skills and know-how, coupled with the living historical timeline of the evolution of collision repair processes… I mean, most 50-something techs could teach a Masterclass on collision repair, but they have absolutely ZERO interest in sharing their wisdom through the process of mentoring, or even taking some type of advisory position withing their shops or even the industry at large…. And…

We have another large portion of next-gen millennials able to step into those positions, that will be, for the most part, our only stream of available technicians, that see the mentoring process as being “crucial” to their career success, but almost ½ of them will quit within 2 years due to:

1. Not enough opportunities to advance and 

2. Lack of learning & developmental opportunities 

...but would be more likely to stay in those careers if given the option on being mentored!

So, the real question is… do I really need to spell this out?

Can you see how this SHOULD play out?

It appears the first group, the older, experienced, knowledgeable “wizards” of collision repair are in the perfect position to help mentor the next-gen millennials, (and younger generations) that really NEED and more importantly DESIRE their wisdom & insight of this industry, to help them learn how to be successful… and more critically… STAY in this industry.

To be a mentor to those that actually WANT to be mentored!

Maybe there’s a way the shops can design some type of mentoring program within their own shops… or maybe some techs will figure out a way to monetize this process for themselves… or maybe, like some others out there, they will feel a need, or an obligation to share what they have learned before it’s too late?

I know for myself, that’s why I do this podcast for FREE, or consistently share as much as I do on my FB group… I feel an obligation to share what I have learned.

I feel if I were to pass away with all that I’ve learned over the past 40 + years about collision repair, about sales, about life without being able to share with others, or to help make it easier or quicker for someone else… to help mentor or coach others…it just feels like it would be a waste of knowledge.

Like saving all your change in a jar, and throwing away the jar and all that change with it when you die… why did you bother saving it?... maybe you didn’t need it, but it absolutely could’ve helped someone else.

So, let me close with these thoughts:

Number one, if you’re a technician, and you still have a couple years left that you’re going to work, give some serious though to being a mentor to someone, to helping out these younger techs… to share your 20/ 30/ 40 years of knowledge with them, help them be the next wave of technicians to carry-on the torch for all of us.

And if you’re a collision shop owner, or hell, even an auto repair or any other service repair owner, give some serious consideration to putting together some kind of mentoring program within your own shop… it very well may be, the determining factor, of the future of your business!

 Rick Selover 

Founder & Host of The Mind Wrench Podcast