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building your support team

I recently read an article on Discovering your Authentic Leadership (summary, full article) that made it clear there are no universal characteristics, traits, skills or styles in succesful leaders. One of the lessons of great leaders, however, is to have systems in place for support and advice, and surround themselves with people that can provide perspective. This concept never occurred to me explicitly, but upon reflection, relationships have had a tremendous impact on my development. In addition to having a support team, my support team is diverse, providing a spectrum of insights so that it’s not just an echo-chamber of ideas. My support team includes:

Formal mentor 1 - I have a mentor that I was matched up with when starting out as an E.I.T. at my current company. This is my 3rd mentor at the company, as it took some “shopping around” to find a good fit for me. Check with your HR team or speak with your manager to see if there’s a program you can take advantage of. We touch base for 30min every month.
Formal mentor 2 - Found through the CEPA mentorship program, I connected with a VP from an engineering firm. There is a great back and forth between us, and I find this is really a 50/50 partnership where my mentor gets as much insight from my perspective as I do from theirs. I love having insight from someone that has really “been there” and has a proven track record of traditional success. Try findamentor.com for industry agnostic choices. We chat once a month for an hour.
Peer Group - I have a group of 5 friends from university that’s stayed in touch via a WhatsApp chat group. It’s made up of individuals in the pipeline industry, sales, accounting, mergers and acquisitions, digital innovation and startups, and manufacturing management. We are in the process of adding a structural and systems biology researcher too! This is a super diverse group that I go to for quick feedback as well as deep discussions. Topics like “how do I negotiate my starting salary”, “best way to navigate some oddly specific work scenario”, “what do you think about this profile pic” and “how to a manage my finances” are all fair game. This support group formed organically, but it follows the idea of a Mastermind Group. You can reach out to some of your friends to set one up. We stay in touch throughout the week via chat and have a 2hr video catchup every 2 weeks.
Work Colleagues - Different colleagues have different strengths and experiences. I try to keep in mind who is “best” at different things (e.g. detailed work, developing process, training, etc.) and reach out to them when I’m starting down a new path to gain insight. This is a very informal and ad-hoc mentorship.
Boss/ Manager - For day-to-day operational needs specific to work, this is an easy go-to resource for direction and to make sure I’m aligned with expectations. We chat when needed and I have a 30min catch-up for feedback and development every 2 weeks.
Therapist/ Counsellor - For the emotional complexities of life, having a professional to discuss issues with has been a necessity for me (especially in my early days navigating recovery). I highly recommend everyone have one of these (find one online), even just for mental health “maintenance” needs. I didn’t realize how much my past life experiences and family life impact my perspective on today. Touch points ebb and flow, but it’s currently 2 times a month.
Best friend - My wife is my biggest fan, and can spot issues before I can. Whatever I am looking to try, she’s constantly cheering and encouraging me to go for it, which is SO amazing for my confidence. This “role” was filled by other best friends in the past, and I would certainly say among other roles, my wife is currently my best friend that provides this unconditional support. Since we are so close, she also knows my patterns and routines, and can help me proactively recognize pitfalls before I see them.

I didn’t realize just how big my support team was until I stopped to reflect on the role it plays in my development. I’ve tuned my skills and sharpened my perspective with the unconditional support of this team. Stop and think about your own support team. Is it sufficient? Are you leaning on it enough?

Upcoming Focus

time sprints

I love to plan based on values and intentions. I recognized the past couple weeks I’ve been spread a bit too thin following different pursuits, and have felt like I’m not making good progress in any one place. I’m looking to focus larger chunks of time on individual topics for the next couple weeks. For example, my main focus now will be completing my Data Scientist with R courses on datacamp to help support my application for a Master’s program. This mean’s 1-2 hours daily in the evenings on just that. Remaining time can be put into learning about editing videos for social media, or planning out financial investments or whatever, but I will have a #1 focus that takes priority over everything else.

Learning

applied learning

As I shared in Ep.2, I’ve taken a crash course in Power BI, but I have yet to really apply it. It feels uncomfortable and scary to actually DO something new. There is a simple dashboard project I know will provide great value to our team at work, but I’m feeling intimidated to actually get started. The learning modules have held my hand as I went through them, but the real connections happen when I do, and fail, and figure things out. It’s time for me to actually apply what I’ve learned and try my hand at just diving in. I am confident Google and message boards will be my best friend in this!

Cool Gear

keel - revel IV high polar boot

I splurged on some “real winter boots” during a trip to Golden, BC a couple years back. I saw a bunch of my friends with super serious looking winter wear for their feet, and was quite jealous as I looked down at my own wet, worn down sneakers I used to get through a snow bank (with cold wet feet in em’). The investment is so worth it if you live in a place with lots of winter and snow. Having these boots has opened up a lot more opportunity for spontaneous adventures (walk through the forest in waist deep snow? why not?!). My takeaway? Get gear you like that works for the environment you are in!

Building Your Support Team for Authentic Leadership (Ep.3)