Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2008 - (Page 42)

didn’t sink in for a while—probably not until I found myself in a mentoring position. I’ve learned many lessons about being a good mentor. Sometimes, you know what you mean, but the person you’re mentoring doesn’t. I’m sure Chuck felt he had given me sufficient direction the first time he assigned me the task of developing a system diagram. Maybe he didn’t fully appreciate my lack of familiarity with the buildings industry. Be accessible: You can’t mentor someone if they can’t get to you, either because you are physically distant or emotionally distant—or both. This can be really tough sometimes when you are facing a hard deadline and the last thing you need is something else to do. But, one of the things I’ve learned is that a half hour of mentoring can actually save me hours of time down the road because I’ve shared my knowledge and empowered a mentee to use it. Never pass up an opportunity to take someone out in the field with you; the field is where theory meets reality. Or maybe he was so comfortable with the concept that he just didn’t realize it was a totally new concept to me. Lack of familiarity with industry nomenclature doesn’t necessarily equate to lack of familiarity with the fundamentals. The HVAC industry in general and the control business in particular are chock-full of industry-specific jargon. When you’ve been in a field for a while, its easy forget that the acronyms, terms, and technologies you deal with daily may be new to the person you are mentoring. In fact, that may be one of the reasons they consulted you. That doesn’t mean they are unfamiliar with the fundamentals behind the jargon. One of your jobs as a mentor is to help them make the connection. Jim helped me connect converters with heat transfer, and Phil helped me apply conservation of mass to reality. There are few, if any, dumb questions asked in earnest. Both Jim and Phil must have sensed that the questions I was asking were pretty fundamental. They also must have known those questions stemmed from a sincere desire to understand something. In their responses, they both immediately made me feel comfortable and safe, and opened the door for me to ask more questions. This may be one of the most important things you can do as a mentor. Nudging someone in the right direction never hurts. Not only did Jim and Phil answer my questions when I asked; they helped me do my job. They did this by including information about the specific task I would be charged with in their answers, i.e., they pointed out the preventive maintenance opportunities and issues, leaving me to work out the details. In addition to helping me succeed, their guidance tied everything together and helped me see the bigger picture. Never pass up an opportunity to take someone out in the field with you; the field is where theory meets reality. If you do nothing else for the people you mentor, share and foster a passion for the field with them by taking them out and getting their feet wet under your watchful eye. The industry desperately needs good field people. Share your resources: An old flying adage is that a long runway behind you is of no value. The mentoring version of that might be that a book on the shelf gathering dust is not doing anyone much good either. You will recall that Jim was quick to share and make me feel comfortable by permitting access to his ASHRAE books and other resources, as were other mentors in my career. At the same time, I appreciated the fact that it was important to them to know where their resources were when they needed them. I tried to respect that by returning resources when I was done, making copies, or simply finding out how to get my own copy. I have to admit that as a mentor, sometimes it’s hard to let one of my books wander out of the office. But, I’ve learned how to diplomatically tell the borrower about the book’s importance to me, and borrowers have never disrespected my books or other resources. In my experience, the mentoring process is just as much about life and people as it is about technical skills and lessons. Phil always told me that no matter how much you like it, your job should never be more than 49% of your life. In other words, the rest of life—your bride or significant other, your kids, walking on the beach, and hobbies—always should have the edge. He and my other mentors lived that by example. Truth be told, I’m not sure whether they considered mentoring to be on the 49% side or the 51% side. As I think about it now, I suspect it was on both. In fact, it’s a pretty good analogy to end an article on mentoring control system engineers and technicians. Just as a good control system will integrate the components of the HVAC system and building it serves and help make it function as a whole, so will good mentoring integrate the technical and life issues that challenge someone growing in the industry, helping that person not only to excel at technical work but also to become a well-rounded individual and a valuable mentoring resource in his or her own time. Sellers is senior engineer at Facility Dynamics and a member of Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s editorial advisory board. His background includes more than 30 years of experience with commissioning, design engineering, facilities engineering, mechanical and control system contracting, and project engineering in a wide array of facilities. Sellers also provides technical training, and develops technical guidelines on retrocommissioning and commissioning field techniques and engineering fundamentals in a number of venues. Read his blog, “A Field Guide for Engineers,” at www.csemag.com/blogs. 42 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • SEPTEMBER 2008 http://www.csemag.com/blogs

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2008

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2008 Contents Viewpoint Letters News M/E�Roundtable Selecting Appropriate Egress Strategies Commissioning On-Site Electrical Systems Mentoring Control Engineers and Technicians Casting Call for Cx Case Study New Products Equipment Lifecycles Advertiser Index Green Space

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - September 2008

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