For young professionals, having a mentor is often encouraged and touted; however, knowing how to find and effectively engage in such relationships is not necessarily easy or intuitive. This panel draws on primary and secondary research funded by the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, the expertise of an employee engagement expert, and a public relations professional with experience in both corporate and agency settings to help attendees better understand and navigate mentoring relationships. Panelists will share both personal experiences and research insights derived from a survey of more than 400 millennial PR professionals; interviews with 50+ PR professionals and students across five countries; and a review of nearly 200 mentoring studies and articles. Specific topics include best organizational and interpersonal mentoring practices, mentoring’s role in growing diverse organizations and mentoring’s connection to leadership development. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: • Define what research tells us about mentorship’s value to PR practitioners in both the U.S. and abroad, and its link to PR leadership. • Reflect on the different kinds of mentors (personal, academic, professional) and will learn about the importance of mentorship in growing diverse, inclusive workplaces. • Analyze the 10 best organizational and interpersonal mentoring practices and will receive practical tips and advice for building and fostering them. Features public relations professionals: - Keith Burton, principle, Grayson Emmett Partners - Dr. Diana Martinelli, professor and administrator, West Virginia University - Alicia Thompson, managing director, Porter Novelli

1. Becoming a PR Leader
The Art and Science of Mentorship
Presented at 2017 PRSA Conference

2. Meet the Panelists
Dr. Diana Martinelli
West Virginia University
Alicia Thompson, APR
Porter Novelli
Keith Burton
Grayson Emmett Partners

3. Objectives
• Discover what research tells us about mentorship’s value to PR
practitioners in the U.S. and abroad and its link to PR leadership
• Reflect on the different kinds of mentors and understand
mentorship’s importance in growing diverse, inclusive workplaces
• Obtain information about the best organizational and interpersonal
mentoring practices and hear practical tips and advice for building
and fostering them

4. “Mentoring is really one of
the strongest ways to spell
success in public relations.”
-Betsy Plank

5. The Power of Mentors

6. Plank Center Whitepaper on Mentorship
Mentoring activities can include…
• counseling (listening; encouraging; identifying and evaluating problems);
• coaching (helping acquire particular skills and knowledge);
• tutoring (instructing on subjects);
• sponsoring (finding the appropriate network or position for a protégé);
• advising (matching interests with their career aspirations); and
• befriending (developing informal supportive relationships).

7. Plank Center Research Findings:
The Mentor-Leader Connection
• Surveyed 420 millennial communications professionals (ages 21-36)
• More than 70% interested in being organizational leaders, but
• Rated their organizations low on professional development
• Organizations’ greatest area for improvement: Mentoring
• Interviewed 51 PR practitioners and student leaders (US, Brazil, China,
India, Russia)
• Unanimous findings across participants/countries: having and being a
mentor is beneficial to leadership development
• Various types of mentors across the lifespan

8. Mentoring in
the Workplace

9. Importance of Mentorship
to PR Professionals
• Share knowledge and skills from seasoned professionals to next
generation PR leaders and vice-versa
• Develop future talent
• Provide guidance in career development
• Help develop networking skills
• Enhance coaching and listening skills
• Provide understanding of current concerns emerging leaders face in the
PR industry
• Contribute to the overall success of the PR industry

10. Mentoring is an essential
leadership skill.

11. Finding a Mentor
• Ask yourself what you want in a mentor
• Find great mentors through the inspiring people you're already interacting and
working with now
• Find someone with different skillsets than you to ensure the best range of insights
and perspectives
• Don’t feel like you have to find someone in your industry or in the same location.
• Have multiple mentors (Board of Directors) from diverse industries and diverse
backgrounds
• Select both men and women as mentors
Be someone who is enjoyable to mentor.

12. Best Practices for Mentorship
• Be authentic, open and honest
• Set expectations and relationship guardrails at the onset
• Expect to drive the mentoring relationship
• Ask for specific feedback
• The best mentors ask lots of questions rather than give answers: they guide;
they don’t do the work for you
• In this new digital world, you could foster a mentor-mentee relationship via
Skype, Face time and other virtual online tools
Be willing to stretch and step out of your comfort zone.

13. Mentoring
Emerging Leaders

14. What We’ve Learned about
Best-in-Class Practices
• Led major study for global client assessing skills and competencies
future PR leaders will need
• Interviewed PR leaders at General Electric, McDonald’s, Cargill,
Toyota, Chevron, IBM and Southwest Airlines regarding skills,
competencies and capabilities seen as essential to their teams

15. Of more than two-dozen skills cited, those
rated highly by every leader included…
Strategic thinking;
function & business knowledge;
creativity;
collaboration;
written communication; and
tactical implementation.

16. But what about
mentoring?

17. How Mentors Help Emerging Leaders
• Gaining Perspective: “What does good look like?”
• Understanding power of curiosity
• Developing critical thinking
• Turning new ideas into solutions
• Helping others see a rapidly changing business world in new ways
• Driving collaboration across multiple platforms – and staying abreast of the information flow while accepting the
responsibility that comes with collaboration
• Becoming more agile – keeping pace, shifting gears often and quickly, and staying current with the information
flow
• Being patient when the pace of progress is slower – and knowing when to push harder and more assertively for
greater responsibility
• Developing new behaviors and building new strengths
• Learning how to accept, interpret and act on feedback and criticism

18. What Do Mentors Need from
Those They Counsel and Guide?
• Context to understand why the relationship matters, what the mentee
needs/expects, and how they will work together
• Knowledge about the subject matter and mentee
• Opportunities to become better coaches, better counselors, better
listeners and better leaders by learning how to advance the goals of
mentees, while creating a learning environment for both parties
• Information regarding emerging technologies, social and digital media
trends and insights about Millennials and Generation Z – that can be
met through reverse mentoring

19. “We make a living by what we get,
we make a life by what we give.”
-Winston Churchill
“We make a living by what we get,
we make a life by what we give.”
-Winston Churchill

20. Workplace Best Practices for
Mentoring Programs
1. Identify the purpose (e.g. leadership, retention) and supporting organizational
resources; then set clear goals and expectations of participants.
2. Demonstrate management’s support through senior-level involvement or
publicly voiced support and recognition.
3. Provide training.
European Mentoring & Coaching Council guidelines provide a good start
4. Hold all parties accountable (including mentees!)
5. Provide time for mentees to watch, do, interact and learn from mentors.
Mentors should explain not only the how but also the why of things to foster
deeper understanding.

21. Workplace Best Practices (cont’d)
6. Encourage mentors to always model professionalism.
7. Be helpful, transparent and honest.
Provide clear direction / feedback to mentors. Avoid “soft ball” or “busy work”
assignments.
8. Maintain consistency and know that mentoring takes time.
Commit to regular, frequent, productive meetings over time.
9. Don’t forget to mentor leaders.
Then give them opportunities to practice new skills.
10. Provide an “out” for mentoring relationships that do not work.
Acknowledge and build in face-saving protocols for relationships that don’t work.

22. Resources: Mentorship Guide
How to Get the Most Out of a Mentoring Relationship
Download your complimentary mentorship guide:
http://bit.ly/MentorshipGuidePDF

23. Thank you.
Plankcenter.ua.edu @PlankCenterPR