Nurturing success through mentorship
July 10, 2019
How Stantec’s mentor program enhanced the careers of two interior designers
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“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” These famous words from Winston Churchill aptly reflect what it means to mentor a colleague and the impact it can have on your career and life.
At Stantec, we are committed to challenging and empowering our work force to exceed their professional and life goals. Our mentoring program provides professional development, connections with peers, and exposure to projects across the firm, thereby strengthening our teams and helping individuals grow. For one member of our interior design team—Rebecca Keehner—being a part of the mentor program was a career-enhancing experience.
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Finding a new perspective
For Rebecca, being a mentor became more than an opportunity to support a colleague, it helped her think about her profession and experience in a completely different light.
“I was surprised at how much I learned,” Rebecca said. “In some ways, being asked, ‘How do you do this?’ made me think about my processes in greater detail. As a result, I ended up formalizing some of my day-to-day tasks that I’d previously just thought of as being intuitive.”
Rebecca said that mentoring allowed her the chance to reflect on her own career and experiences. As a result, she was able to enhance her career while helping Jen develop her own. Their discussion calls would cover a broad range of topics that spanned beyond their work as designers, specifically leadership styles. Rebecca noted she felt it was important the two discuss ways to inspire teams and manage teams to optimize outcomes.
“Our calls were incredibly rewarding,” Rebecca said. “I found discussing work with someone who is as passionate about your field as you are almost therapeutic. Being able to have a conversation about processes, design and leadership often felt reenergizing and made me feel excited to go back to work.”
Building connections with a mentor helps to break down some of those barriers that exist between offices and has made access to additional resources easier.
Rebecca Keehner