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O P I N I O N
There are many ways to connect to others and contribute to a person’s professional and personal growth. Multiple modalities of mentoring
M entorship is critical to every professional’s success and can occur in many ways. After much self-reflection, especially through the last year of the pandemic, I realize how instrumental mentoring has been to my career. I have consistently been surrounded by great mentors – whether they knew it or not. In the more traditional sense, the novice apprentice learns from the wizened sage. That is one modality for mentorship, but there are many more ways to connect to others and contribute to a person’s professional and personal growth.
Michael Syracuse
When, as a recent graduate, I joined an 80-person architecture firm, I needed guidance to understand the profession and my path through it. A few of my colleagues stepped up and stood out from the office full of people to become my mentors. My direct manager was a leader in the firm, and we worked together on many projects. In his senior position, he influenced what projects were assigned to me and he kept his ears open for new opportunities. He also kept me away from tasks that were not going to advance my professional growth. He was my mentor-advocate. I also learned a vast amount from another colleague who had about five years more experience than me. While I was still a young
designer creating renderings, he was running large, complex projects and was seemingly light-years ahead of me. What proved to be more important than working on projects together, we sat near each other. I overheard all his conversations – whether on the phone with contractors or in-person with colleagues. As a result, I learned how he handled difficult conversations, his use of technical terms, and what was most important to keep projects moving ahead. He was always willing to discuss any topic and answer my questions, and I looked up to him as an example of where I could be in a few years. His organization, rigor, and persistence came
See MICHAEL SYRACUSE, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 28, 2021, ISSUE 1398
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