A featured contribution from Leadership Perspectives, a curated forum for enterprise technology leaders, nominated by our subscribers and vetted by the CIOApplications Editorial Board.

Custard Insurance Adjusters

The Importance of Mentorship

Before the internet became what it is today and computers were part of our everyday lives, how and why did I choose IT as my career? In the early 1980s, my high school started a new program allowing students to learn a professional trade while still in school, which included the opportunity to work with computers. At the time, I had only played around with a friend’s Commodore 64, which soon got me hooked. I signed up for this new opportunity where I spent half my day at this specialized school and the other half in regular classes.

After finishing the program and graduating high school, I received an offer from National Data Corporation, using my newly acquired computer training. My career began in mainframe operations, overseeing changing tapes to each of our Unisys (1100/70s, 1100/80s) and other systems. Bandwidth went from 1200 baud to an “astounding” 2400 baud to transfer financial data. Recently, I was reminiscing about these old days while undertaking a project for drive space, which involved adding 8TB to our Dev SAN, and how I used to manage 14Mb of disk space on our mainframes. I shared with one of the people I work with about the excitement of those days, and how newly discovered technology was a common occurrence, recalling a discussion I had with my former manager about how silly it seemed that Microsoft was trying to compete with mainframes. I was very wrong about that one.

My first step toward networking came when the trend on mainframes shifted to a more client-server technology, like Novell. At that time, Novell was the king of client-server technology for file and print sharing. This progress led to me learning Novell 2.15 and continuing to support it through V4.1. Right about that time, Microsoft was heading into the client-server technology arena with Windows NT3.5, then NT3.51. When the opportunity for NT training came along in the very early 90s, I jumped in with both feet to add NT to my skillset.

Technology was ramping up so fast and I was fortunate to gain great mentors during this time of change. The first was someone who took the time to help me understand the technology from a book view vs. the production reality, which rounded out my knowledge significantly.

Second mentor, I became friends with while working at Norrell Corporation. I owe him so much as he was the one who taught me more about the business side of the corporate world. During this time, when Microsoft released native IP, Novell started to lose its standing to Microsoft. NT 3.51 became the dominant technology, especially after Service Pack 5. Microsoft continued its growth path to NT 4.0 and beyond.

As the technology changed course, I had to change along with it and took up learning MS Mail 3.5 and SMS 1.0 to 1.2. When Microsoft released Exchange 4.0 into beta, I found myself one of the three engineers at Southern Company who supported SMS at one of its electric companies, Georgia Power. At that time, Georgia Power was one of the larger SMS sites in the country not named Microsoft. It was a learning experience throughout and one I am always thankful for. I gained a great mentor here who shared her vast technology skills and encouraged certification opportunities such as the new MCSE. From my time there, I learned how enterprise IT truly operates at that level.

With knowledge and experience gained, I ventured into the dot-com world, which led me to my fourth mentor, who gave me my first opportunity as a Data Center Manager. I joined the organization as employee number thirteen. It quickly grew into one of the larger dot-com companies in the nation, growing to over 300 employees. Like many companies of that era, it was greatly affected by the dot-com bust.

Mentorship has farreaching advantages as those who are mentored continue to mentor others, and I would never be where I am today without them


Next, following my fourth mentor, I went into healthcare technology, working for one of the larger ROI companies in the US. Through his continued leadership, I learned more about day-to-day business management than I had ever had in my career. After being promoted to director role, I also took on the role of mentor with some of my staff, allowing them to learn and train in new technology to increase their career opportunities. I am happy to see their continued advancement and success.

Continuing in healthcare, I delved into clinical practice. In that world, technology took on new meaning as work involves the treatment of human lives. My fifth mentor was the amazing CEO at this practice who taught me ways to increase productivity while still achieving the same goals, thereby lowering stress. Her management style is one that I still strive to follow.

For my next opportunity, I dove into the world of global finance as an ISO. This position led to mentor number six, the company owner, who taught me about business instincts and relationships. It also led to another mentorship opportunity where someone from my staff is now in my old position there today.

These days, I am with a great company in the claims industry, Custard Insurance Adjusters, where I am fortunate enough to work with several mentors in the areas of legal, management, and HR, from whom I continue to learn. I also try to pay it forward and provide my staff with opportunities to increase their skills whenever possible. I hope to retire in the next 5-6 years and fondly look back on all the great people who helped my career and hopefully continue to follow those that I have helped along the way. Mentorship has far-reaching advantages as those who are mentored continue to mentor others, and I would never be where I am today without them.

The articles from these contributors are based on their personal expertise and viewpoints, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their employers or affiliated organizations.