Mentorship: Helping to bridge the oil and gas industry leadership gap

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Mentorship: Helping to bridge the oil and gas industry leadership gap

Mar 22, 2016 / News

Continuing the tradition of connecting current and future oil and gas industry leaders, LAGCOE plans to once again facilitate the Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Program.

In its second year, the program has been successful in connecting more than 30 mentor/mentee pairs and facilitating the important conversations that need to be happening to ensure a pipeline of prepared, qualified oil and gas senior and executive leaders.

"The program was created out of the need for young professionals to have access to experienced industry leaders. Likewise, there was a need for these seasoned guys to share their experiences so that many lessons learned do not have to be revisited,” said Alan Broussard, Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Committee Chairman.

The 2016 program will begin with a LAGCOE Luncheon to be held this Thursday, March 24, 2016, where guests will not only learn about past successes of the Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Program, but also hear from Frank’s International President and CEO, Gary Luquette, about the importance of mentorship in career development, not only in the oil and gas industry, but for virtually any industry.

In preparation for this kick-off luncheon, former mentor/mentee program participants sat down to discuss their experiences with the program.

"The mentor program was great for me as it allowed me to glimpse into the day-to-day life of a key leader in the Louisiana oil and gas industry,” said Tully Blanchard, Corporate Sales for HB Rentals and Chairman of Young Professionals of LAGCOE who participated as a mentee in 2015. "It was a rare opportunity to spend uninterrupted time learning invaluable skills that will help me to further my career with my mentor, Greg Stutes, who is a key figure in our industry.”

One of the main focuses of this program is to help educate the future leaders of the oil and gas industry through mentorship to help these leaders transition into upper-level positions when the time is right in their respective companies. Although many companies handle mentorship within its own company rosters, some companies do not.

"Typically once you start working at a company you have a designated mentor for a brief period of time. Once this introductory period is over, oftentimes a clear, designated mentor is not assigned. The Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Program provides this mentorship and helps to fill this gap,” said Kelsey Corrigan, Field Engineer for Chevron Corporation. "What makes the Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Program so unique is that it allows you, as a mentee, interact with business leaders outside of your own company.”

The Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Program was not created solely with the interest of the mentee in mind.

Greg Stutes, Completion Specialists, Inc. and LAGCOE Chairman-elect participated as mentor to Blanchard commented, "It was awesome to be able to pass on some of my wisdom and gain a deeper professional relationship with Tully who, in turn, gave me the opportunity to personally grow through his own inspiration.

"Mentorship is needed in our industry because it is one of the best ways to improve not only the person you may be mentoring, but also yourself as we all know the largest room in the world is the room for improvement.”

It’s not too late to participate in the 2016 Young Professionals of LAGCOE Mentor Program. Mentees will be paired with mentors in early April.

The Young Professionals of LAGCOE mentor program seeks to meet the needs of individuals and pair people together for the best mutual benefit, creating a rare opportunity for career development.

"The most beneficial part of the Young Professionals of LAGCOE mentor program for me was the different perspectives and advice I received along the way and I highly encourage others to participate to gain these perspectives,” Corrigan said.

"Now more than ever is the time for the proverbial passing of the torch. We, as mentees, have a bank of experts out there willing to help see to it that our industry is left in good hands, Blanchard said.

"If you’re waiting for opportunity to knock, wait no more. This is opportunity officially knocking, so go ahead and open that door. You’ll be glad you did!”