40-Day Series: Thank You Fong Johnson

Fong contacted me more than a year ago asking if I would share a day in the life of a staff manager. She was interested in becoming a staff manager someday and thought I could share insights that would help her create a personal development plan. Our first meeting would lead to a great mentor/mentee relationship and ultimately a friendship that I value very much.

I realized that Fong was much more than a mentee when she posted a recommendation for me on LinkedIn. Typical recommendations are a paragraph or shorter. Not Fong's. She wrote almost a half a page and talked from both a business and personal perspective. She was concerned she didn't write it correctly or said too much. I posted it just the way she wrote it as I had never read something so touching. It completely floored me with how thoughtful it was and is truly one of my most favorite recommendations. I still can't believe someone would take the time and effort to write such kind things..she was another real inspiration to starting this 40-day blog series.

Fong is a first generation Chinese American and has a unique and incredible outlook on life. Even though we started our relationship with me serving as the mentor there are more times than not that I feel like the mentee. She is incredibly bright and can appreciate the more subtle things in life that I think many of us take for granted. She has a proven strength that not only comes from leaving a home country thousands and thousands miles away but also supporting a spouse that has recovered from a life threatening illness. She is the full package and is going to be so much more than a staff manager someday.

Golden Nugget: Being a mentor is more about learning than teaching.