4 Mentoring Lessons Gen Z Can Learn From the Karate Kid Trilogy and Cobra KaiThe latest season of Cobra Kai, along with The Karate Kid trilogy, has some tremendous mentoring takeaways. Here are four of the most important lessons for Gen Z.
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As I watched the latest season ofCobra Kai(season 5), I saw some tremendousmentoringtakeaways throughout the show. In combination withThe Karate Kidtrilogy, I thought it would be helpful to share these lessons with Gen Z'ers as they are starting their careers amid the pandemic and as they are continuing navigating remote, hybrid or in-person work. Here are four mentoring lessons for Gen Z below (note: this post containsspoilers forCobra Kai).
1. Choose the right mentor for you
The return of Terry Silver's character (driven by greed and deception — some of us may see this in the corporate world), teaches that you shouldchoose a mentorwith high integrity and values aligned with your own but whose strengths complement your weaknesses. For example, having a risk-averse mentor will help you see what you may not anticipate if you are open to risk. Also, making sure your mentor is not overextended is very important. Sometimes mentors get "voluntold" to participate in mentoring programs but are too busy to give even a minimal effort. Don't get discouraged, and try your best to ride it out — but seek an informal mentor with the time and energy to help guide you on your career path.
Related:The 6 Most Important Traits to Look for When Choosing a Mentor
2. Mentors are human beings, too
InCobra Kai, karate instructors (senseis) Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence constantly struggle with theircore valuesthroughout the series. Daniel works with the pain he endured being bullied by Johnny and the rest of the Cobra Kai gang. Johnny struggles with his life choices (abandoning his kid and working odd jobs), transitioning to being a karate sensei and having a second chance at being a good father. This lesson translates into the corporate world very well. We don't know what's going on in our mentors' lives; instead of putting them on a pedestal, we need to be patient and understand that they're human beings like the rest of us and don't always have everything figured out. Also, there's no secret handbook given to mentors on how to succeed.
3. Be prepared to learn and work hard
As we saw in theKarate Kidtrilogy andCobra Kai, it took a lot of hard work and agrowth mindsetfor the protagonists to succeed (Eagle Fang + Miyagi Do = entry to the Sekai Taikai International Tournament). I researched the reasons why mentoring programs or relationships fall apart when I was developing a mentoring program for a professional association to help avoid mentoring failures. One of the leading causes of mentoring relationships andmentoring program failureis that mentees arenot preparedto learn or to work hard, and they let the relationship deteriorate. I witnessed this issue first-hand, even though we did our best to prevent this from happening. One of the best tools that Gen Z has that we "elder millennials" didn't grow up with is Google. Just doing a simple Google search on "questions to ask my mentor" will give you tons of results and advice.
Related:Why Does Mentoring Fail and How to Prevent it?
4. Wax on, wax off: Connect work with purpose
One of the best (and most memorable) scenes ofThe Karate Kidwas when Mr. Miyagi required Daniel LaRusso to mindlessly paint his fence and wax his cars. Daniel finally had enough and said he wanted to learn karate, not work for free. Once he started storming off, Mr. Miyagi showed him that he was creating muscle memory so that he'd be able to block punches and kicks. Not much has changed since this movie came out: We need to understand, as mentees, employees and even family members, how the work we do plays into the bigger picture/purpose for which we allocate our time and energy. We also need to understand that sometimes being patient andtrusting the processcan lead to tremendous growth.
If you're reading this and don't have a mentor — don't worry, it's okay! I didn't get my first mentor until I interned for one of my professors in business school, and he has profoundly impacted my life; we still grab lunch frequently to this day. Some tips I give my undergraduate students (in addition to the four above) are to reach out tofolks you admire(at work or outside of work), and ask them if they're available to grab lunch to hear more about how they got to where they are today. If they're too busy for lunch, ask them if they're available for a quick 15-minute Zoom or coffee. Don't take it personally if they decline, but follow up with them every couple of months to see if they're available.
Related:How to Ask Someone to Be Your Mentor
As you're navigating the new world ofremote, hybrid or in-person工作,是脆弱的和积极的联系meone you respect to help mentor and acclimate you to your company's culture. Make sure you choose the right mentor, be patient, be prepared to learn and work hard, and ask how your work contributes to the bigger picture. If the person you want to be your mentor is too busy, move on to someone who has the time and passion to help. Lastly, don't forget to pay it forward and devote your time tomentoring others(preferably while listening to "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito).
