University Magazine Issue 1

VIU.EDU
Dr. Stephen Onu holds a doctorate degree from the University of Phoenix, as well as
the following certifications: PMP, Harvard Business Roundtable, System Test Engineer
(CSTE), Quality Assurance (CQA) and CMMI.
development tool. Organizations are
experiencing dramatic improvements
in efficiency, productivity and retention
through their mentoring programs.
Get a Mentor!
BY DR. STEPHEN ONU
There is a story of a king who had
three sons. To determine his successor,
he asked them this simple question:
How do you avoid making a serious
mistake? The first son answered,
“by making the mistake at least twice
and then learning from it,” but the king
called him foolish. The second son answered
that he would learn from making
a mistake just once, yet the king
also called him foolish. The third son
answered that he would learn from
others that have made mistakes before,
so that he would not make the same
mistake, and the king made him the
prince. This is why you need a mentor;
he/she prevents you from making the
same mistakes that they have already
made.
Most of us can look back on our
lives and identify a person who had a
significant and positive impact on us.
Mentorship is not only
limited to your career;
you could have a spiritual
mentor, a relationship
mentor, or a financial
mentor.
This person may have been a teacher, a
boss, a spiritual leader, or a parent, and
somewhere on our journey this person
acted as a mentor. Not surprisingly,
many companies are embracing the
concept of mentoring as a professional
A mentor is an individual with
more professional experience in your
field who offers you career guidance,
counsel, advice and assistance from
a real point-of-view based on his/her
lived experiences. Mentorship is not
only limited to your career; you could
have a spiritual mentor, a relationship
mentor, or a financial mentor. An effective
mentor is reflective, wise, understanding
and willing to share his
or her knowledge and experience in
order to help you avoid mistakes and
become successful. Having a mentor is
like having a wonderful trusted ally to
go to whenever you are feeling unsure
or in need of support. A good mentor
can also help you set and achieve career
goals, make smart business decisions,
overcome workplace challenges, learn
new skills or simply offer an outside
perception, network, discover new opportunities,
as well as prepare you for
an interview.
Finding the right mentor is probably
one of the best career decisions
you will ever make. There are lots of
ways to find a mentor. If you are already
working at a company, check to
see if your company has a mentoring
program, and if you’re not working,
ask your friends and family members
to introduce you to potential mentors.
Organizations like SCORE (Service
Corps of Retired Executives) has a
database of retired executives from diverse
industries and backgrounds who
are willing to mentor. The easiest way
to look for a mentor is to look around
your workplace or your industry. Look
for a person you admire and respect, a
person whose insight, experience and
perceptiveness you value. Most people
are flattered to be asked to mentor, so
go ahead and ask. When you are unsure
of your decisions, when you need
someone to simply encourage you, or
to lean on – you need a mentor.
Spring 2014 University Magazine, VIU
25