Friday, April 30, 2010

Break!

Great break! now it's time to start focusing on next semester and Action Research.. I need to do more focusing on my writing.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

639 Reflection Blog #6

My mentee missed my meeting this past Monday because he was sick, but he did however attend our Friday CISSP meeting for the first time in over a month. This was good news to me. I invited him over the day before @ my place for a bbq. We watched the Laker game with a few of my co-workers. I wanted him to feel at 'home' and although i'm his mentor, I'm a friend first. I didn't have the 'official' sit down with him that day, but I did sense a feeling of 'i'm moving' on from him. He did seem a little happier and upbeat.

The following day was his regular telecommute day, so he dialed into our meeting along with another co-worker for the CISSP call. We went through some q/a and then I think he felt good about the questions. I really need to push them into their readings more now though. He needs to get his book from his fellow co-worker so that he can read up on the same chapters. It does not help that they are both falling behind in their readings.

Reflecting back, did I fail my mentee by having the study group done as a group? Initially I was thinking that they could help each other by being on the same schedule, but now that i've looked back and am in reality, one person lags, perhaps this gives the other person a feeling of lagability? A big sigh for me. Well, out of the 5 that initially started, we still have 3 participants. That's not so bad, but I don't think we'll hit our end date. I will keep on holding the meetings and q/a for the remainder staff. I think not only will this create a 'support' group, it will also create our 'community of practice' internally. This will help us network in the future.

I will approach my mentee this week and ask him about the closure of our relationship. I wanted our closure to be hitting our end goal of his CISSP certification, but now I don't think we'll ever hit that goal. Eventually, I must draw the line somewhere so that he can be on his own. Does this mean i've failed him?

To be continued...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

639 Reflection Blog #5

After missing a couple of meetings, I saw my mentee this past Monday 3/29/2010. We had our weekly 1 hour talk and caught up on the events occurring in his life. We spoke about his troubles @ the home front, his emotional roller-coaster with his Grandmother passing away and his potential loss of his job in his professional life. It was a real 'tear-jerker' of a situation.

So I led the discussion in the beginning. I was empathetic of his situation and so It seemed that his life was indeed looking up. He has since been back to his 'normal' living situation with his family. He just completed the funeral services for his grandma. The only other item that I wanted to talk to him about was his professional life. I asked him about his plans for the future and his plans immediately. I wanted him to still pursue the CISSP certification so that he would be more marketable if he was laid off here @ work. So, he agreed, I also wanted him to spend more time 'reading' and less time 'mucking' around. He needs to be more responsible for his time and accountable for his time. I understood that he has 4 kids, but during the time when he is home, his wife could be more supportive since she knows of his current professional situation.

As for him, I do see that he's trying and I do see that he has a better outlook now than he did the past couple of weeks ago. I just still need to be there for him when he's in need. I will also keep track of his progress on the CISSP, but as I've reflected in my A6, I believe that we will not achieve that goal that we set out in the beginning. I will however 'coach' him in making it the best possible scenario for himself when he leaves (involuntarily) from the company.

MT