By Jane Dvorak, APR, Fellow PRSA
Recently, I had the honor of having a mentoring award named for me, the Jane Dvorak Mentor of the Year Award, how crazy is that? Crazy, because I feel it comes quite naturally and frankly, that I have benefited greatly from the experience of those relationships built.
I had amazing mentors of my own that role modeled what it means to invest in the next generation. I’m forever grateful to those sage advisors who helped lift me to where I am today. They paved a path to career success, national PRSA leadership and extraordinary community engagement. Those mentors made a difference in my journey and the understanding that I needed to pay it forward. I am doing my best to uphold that part of the bargain.
In my mind, mentoring is part of paving a legacy, a legacy far greater than anything I could have ever achieved. It is that path for those that will follow that makes mentoring an amazing journey and leaves a lasting impact.
Emily Dickinson, the American poet, wrote these words more than a century ago, but they ring ever true today, especially when looking at the legacy we can create through others.
In this short life
That only lasts an hour
How much – how little – is
Within our power
Over the 35 years of JKD & Company, I have made mentoring a key part of my independent practice. To date, 77 interns have crossed through the doors of JKD & Company. How incredibly lucky I have been to be a part of those career journeys. Many are still in the PR/Communications profession today. Others have taken those skills and applied them in different ways – management, sales, entrepreneurs and more. They have done far more than I could have ever imagined.
As mentors we can never know the impact we will have in a fleeting encounter, a welcoming gesture to a new colleague, as a resource to our peers or as “The Best Boss Ever” – ask any JKD intern, they’ll all tell you! HA! But what we can know, is that the time spent is priceless and invaluable.
Mentoring is not about having time; it’s about making time.
Mentoring is about listening, championing, sharing, extending a hand. It is not about what I have accomplished, but rather my legacy to my profession, a profession that I love so very much and has given back 10-fold. As a mentor, that is the path paved for those who will follow. To give them a direction, to be a role model, to build and nurture their talents, and to elevate each other because when we do that, we are all elevated.
I’m grateful to have been a part of the journeys of many, but it is I that has grown from those moments in time. To see talent blossom, to watch confidence grow is an amazing process and experience. Popped many a proud “mentor buttons” at celebrations for past interns, aspiring pros and fellow colleagues that have achieved well deserved accolades, promotions and landed their first career positions.
I’m challenging you to step back and think about who made a difference for you – career, home, community? Take time to make time for another. I hope in that process you find a little laughter along the way. It is the most universal language, one we can all understand and in those moments of laughter, we create memories, we inspire others, we find our common ground. With mentoring and a little laughter tossed in, we get to pave the way for those that follow. That’s a lasting legacy because I believe mentoring matters.
Jane Dvorak, APR, Fellow PRSA, is owner and president of Colorado-based