How do I help someone else grow?

In conversation with mentor Magdalena Hauzenberger

How did you experience being a mentor?

It was very exciting! To see what my mentee was dealing with and to think about how I was doing back then. Is what I would have needed back then also helpful for my mentee or does she need something else? It was therefore a personality development also for me and an insane enrichment to grow a bit with my mentee here.

How did a mentoring meeting work for you?

My mentee always came with a long list of questions that she sent me in advance. I thought that was great because I knew in advance what topics were on her mind at the time. Our meetings always lasted one and a half to two hours. Often we didn't get to all the questions, but we simply took them to our next meeting. It was also important that it was a very good fit on a personal level. That made a lot of difference.

What was important to you to pass on to your mentee?

A certain reality for how it is in the working world. It was important for me to convey that you can have the greatest job in the world, but still not everything is always great. I can remember, and also observe it in my environment, one has such a euphoria from the first job that everything is great and everything works out. I wanted to convey that this is not the reality and that is also fully okay.
I also wanted to convey to her that there are differences in everyday working life, so that she can better decide, do I want to go to a company like Magna or do I want to stay at university. What is closer to me? What makes me feel comfortable or not?

You have said that the role as a mentor was also personality-developing for you. In what areas were you challenged here?

Quite strongly in terms of your own ability to reflect. This rethinking when I'm in a role where I should be leading someone. That's where I learned an incredible amount. It was very exciting for me to see how my mentee received my input. What worked? That was a key point for me and is important for my own behavior in situations where I have a leadership function. Ultimately, the focus for me was, how do I help someone else grow? I think that's something you can only learn by doing and actively engaging with.

How did you find your way into your role as a mentor at the beginning?

I read through the mentoring guide at the beginning. That was incredibly important. The guide is very valuable as a point of reference for the mentor:in. It does a good job of clarifying what the roles of mentor:in and mentees are. I didn't need more, but I think it's good that there's the option of a kick-off meeting for mentors if you want one. It was important for me to know where to go if I had questions. And then there are always events where you can participate. For me, that was a perfect fit.

What would you like to say in conclusion?

I think we did that quite successfully.

About the mentor:

Magdalena Hauzenberger studied USW with a focus on business administration. After working as a research assistant at the University of Graz for several years, she moved to Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik, where she is responsible for the commercial support of funded R&D projects in the controlling department.