Connect people
It’s one thing to recognize the generational differences and embrace them, but then Portnoy also has to find ways to bridge the gaps. One such way is through mentoring.
“Mentorship is so critical,” she says. “I’ve had many mentors in my career, and they’ve been different throughout my career, but they’ve always provided me with the vehicle to have a discussion, ask advice and help me make a decision I may have had.”
Despite having many mentors, most haven’t been matched up for her.
“For me, those mentors have been either individuals that I’ve either sought out for a relationship or worked with in a team setting,” Portnoy says.
But she also recognizes that not everyone is able to seek out people for that kind of relationship, so sometimes they’ll match up people or point them in the right direction toward someone in the firm.
“That’s a starting point to get someone connected with someone else they can develop a relationship with, but I think the best mentors are the ones that happen naturally and evolve,” she says. “In the absence of that, I think mentorship is so critical that I encourage everyone to seek out a mentor or we’ll find one for you to get you started, but it’s so very important.”
You need to know how a mentor relationship should ideally work.
“Mentorship is a two-way street and … some of the very best mentor relationships are ones where the mentor and the mentee both have shared values and get something out of that relationship,” she says. “If you are in a relationship and you feel like you are imposing upon the mentor or the mentee, then it’s probably not a good relationship. If it’s one where it’s collaborative and you’ve got this great opportunity and this excitement about getting together with your mentor and you have things to share with him or her, then I think you kind of know that it’s working.”
She says you also need to throw out the stereotypical view you may have of mentorship.
“When some people think of mentor programs, it’s one-way,” Portnoy says. “You envision a young professional seeking out a more seasoned senior person to provide them with advice, and that may be true at some level, but if it’s working well, that seasoned professional is reaching the other way and asking, ‘How can I do things better? What’s happening with your peers and colleagues that I may not know about? How am I doing as a leader?’ and be willing and vulnerable to seek that kind of input from your mentee. Then when you get into those relationships, it’s equally rewarding for both.”
To be able to get honest feedback from your mentee, though, he or she has to trust you.
“You have to have the relationship already established to be able to put yourself out there,” she says.
Portnoy does this by having conversations with people about more than just the task at hand. She gets to know them as people as opposed to employees by inviting them over to her home for dinner to engage them in a more relaxed social atmosphere.
“That sets the tone and says, ‘I’m going to share something of myself with you,’” she says. “Then when it becomes more challenging, and I really want to ask for feedback, I can then trust that those open relationships are already there and somebody is willing to share something back with me.
“If you don’t establish that up front, there is a tendency for that younger professional to not know how that [honest feedback] will be received and they might be less likely to be honest or not fully disclose or be politically correct, and those kinds of things, because they haven’t established a relationship at anything other than a purely professional level.”
But recognize that there are lines, and she’s not encouraging you to be unprofessional in an effort to establish personal rapport with someone.
“There’s obviously a line of appropriateness, and you want to be a professional, but by peeling back those layers and getting to know each other as people and know what interests there are, what outside interests, what priorities that person has, then you break down some of those barriers, and it’s easier to have a more natural rapport where people can be honest with each other.”
How to reach: Ernst & Young LLP, (408) 947-5500 or http://www.ey.com/
