September 2008 IssuE
The Mentoring Effect
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TURNS FOR THE BETTER |
Every move has a consequence, presenter Orrin C. Hudson says.
APEGGA agrees — and makes it the theme of the third annual National Mentoring Conference
BY GEORGE LEE
The PEGG
A gentle reminder, a sincere compliment, a sympathetic ear — these are among the strategies mentors use all the time to inspire and motivate their protégés. But what will today’s mentoring moments lead to next week, next month or 10 years from now?
With a slate of top-notch presenters, APEGGA’s third annual National Mentoring Conference will help delegates answer that question and many others, at the Westin Hotel in downtown Edmonton on Oct. 14 and 15.
The conference is designed to improve and develop mentoring skills. It looks at nuts-and-bolts workplace issues and the latest best practices in mentoring, but it also serves as a motivational jolt.
Orrin Hudson, for example, is living proof that a good mentor can have a profound effect. In fact, he says he owes his life to a white teacher he met as a student in an all-black high school in Birmingham, Ala.
“He taught me life through chess,” Mr. Hudson says. “He told me that every move you make has consequences and, for my game and my life to get better, I had to get better. He told me that I was responsible for my own success.”
That’s the metaphor Mr. Hudson brings to Alberta in his presentation, Every Move Has a Consequence. APEGGA has actually adopted the presentation’s title as the overall theme, this year.
It’s an apt one. The conference itself is a consequence of the APEGGA Mentoring Program, which began in March 2004 and today thrives with 136 matched pairs.
“The thought of holding a conference three years ago sprang out of the formal, supportive and nurturing nature of our own program,” explains Nancy Toth, APEGGA Manager, Human Resources and Professional Development. “A conference to inspire, train and boost mentors is consistent with our own goals.”
Although its offerings evolve and change, the basic approach is the same for each conference. “We have an inspirational component, followed by a meat-and-potatoes, practical component, which members love. They like to have a take-home kit of tools,” adds Ms. Toth.
One of the meat-and-potatoes presentations this year is Mentoring a Diverse Population: What Organizations Need to Know, by Dr. Lionel Laroche, P.Eng. His more than 100 publications examine cultural differences and their impact on business and technical functions.
Dr. Laroche, a member of Professional Engineers Ontario, has worked with people from more than 60 countries, and his experience includes international engineering, management, sales and human resources. He followed up his book Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions with a second one, Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Culturally Diverse Employees, which went on sale in December 2006.
The information Dr. Laroche brings is particularly pertinent to APEGGA members and permit holders, Ms. Toth says. “Over the last few years companies in Alberta have been hiring people from diverse backgrounds to meet the needs of a booming economy. Now, many of them are finding that they aren’t as prepared as they should be for the many cultures now represented in the workplace.”
Mentoring is a recognized way to pass soft skills along to new employees, but cultural differences can block that flow. Dr. Laroche has provided cross-cultural training, coaching and consulting services to more than 15,000 people in the last 10 years. In fact, his training itself crosses international borders — he’s taken his message throughout Canada and beyond, to the U.S., Mexico, Peru, China and several countries in Europe.
Also tying into the Alberta economic climate will be a presentation called The Importance of Mentoring in a Booming Economy, from Mary Ann Byrd, P.Eng.
Educated in the U.S., Ms. Byrd has been a Canadian citizen since 1994 and a permanent resident for more than two decades. Now with the Department of National Defence, Suffield, she’s been involved in APEGGA through Outreach, the Medicine Hat Branch and last year’s mentoring conference.
One of Ms. Byrd’s passions has always been promoting science and technology with young people — which she believes is particularly important as a female role model in engineering. She received a Mentor of the Millennium Award from the Alberta Women’s Science Network in 2002.
Canadian Aboriginal cultures will play a big role in the conference, too. This ties into an APEGGA Aboriginal mentoring program for school students, which the Association is currently piloting, in keeping with the APEGGA business plan goal to increase Aboriginal membership.
Dr. Gabor Maté, a physician and author from Vancouver, will present on What We Can Learn From Aboriginal Peoples About Mentoring and the Workplace. Although he’s a past presenter at the APEGGA Annual Conference, Dr. Maté brings a new focus this time.
His four books have covered the mind-body connection, parenting, attention deficit disorder and, most recently, addictions in the best-seller In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
An Aboriginal elder will speak at the conference, and a panel discussion will centre on APEGGA’s Aboriginal mentoring program. Panel member Lorna Crowshoe of the United Way will focus on her organization’s work in Calgary Catholic schools. She’ll be joined by Matt Scheuring, P.Eng., the core Aboriginal mentor in APEGGA’s program at Calgary’s St. Martha School, and Daniel Danis, the school’s principal.
It all adds up to two days of great inspiration and information for APEGGA members. But they’re not the only ones who take interest. The conference attracts delegates from varying professions and disciplines across Canada, and this year the U.S. may even be represented.
“With APEGGA Council’s acceptance of a Summit Award for mentoring, the great strides we’re making in our mentoring program and the success of this conference, the Association truly is establishing itself as a national mentoring leader,” says Ms. Toth.
MORE INFO
National Mentoring Conference
www.apega.ca, see home page
APEGGA Mentoring Program
www.apega.ca, click on Mentoring under Fast Find
Mentoring Coordinator Arlene Lack
alack@apega.ca