Mentoring a Junior Colleague

Anders had been assigned to mentor Kavya three months earlier, when she joined the team fresh out of graduate school. She was full of ideas but noticeably unsure of herself in meetings. He remembered that particular kind of nervousness well, even though it had been over a decade since he had felt it himself.

Anders ditugaskan membimbing Kavya tiga bulan sebelumnya, ketika ia bergabung dengan tim langsung setelah lulus pascasarjana. Ia penuh gagasan, tetapi jelas kurang percaya diri dalam rapat. Anders ingat betul jenis kegugupan itu, meski sudah lebih dari sepuluh tahun sejak ia sendiri merasakannya.

This week, Kavya had been struggling with a client report that was due Friday, one that involved reconciling months of inconsistent data. She had been staying late every night, rewriting the same three pages over and over, convinced that each version was somehow still not good enough.

Minggu ini, Kavya kesulitan dengan laporan klien yang tenggatnya hari Jumat, laporan yang mengharuskannya merekonsiliasi data berbulan-bulan yang tidak konsisten. Ia lembur setiap malam, menulis ulang tiga halaman yang sama berulang kali, yakin bahwa setiap versi entah bagaimana masih belum cukup baik.

Anders noticed the pattern on Wednesday afternoon. He passed her desk for the third day in a row and found her staring at the same spreadsheet, visibly exhausted. He pulled a chair over without making a show of it. "Walk me through what's giving you trouble," he said.

Anders menyadari polanya pada Rabu sore. Ia melewati meja Kavya untuk hari ketiga berturut-turut dan mendapatinya menatap lembar kerja yang sama, tampak kelelahan. Ia menarik sebuah kursi tanpa membuat keributan. "Coba ceritakan apa yang membuatmu kesulitan," katanya.

Kavya explained, somewhat apologetically, that she had been told the client was demanding and that she was terrified of submitting anything that looked amateurish. "I keep imagining what they'll say if this isn't perfect," she admitted.

Kavya menjelaskan, dengan nada agak menyesal, bahwa ia diberi tahu kliennya sangat menuntut dan bahwa ia takut menyerahkan sesuatu yang terlihat tidak profesional. "Aku terus membayangkan apa yang akan mereka katakan kalau ini tidak sempurna," akunya.

"If I were in your position, I'd have felt exactly the same," Anders said. "But you're treating every sentence like it has to survive forever. It just has to be clear and accurate. That's it."

"Kalau aku di posisimu, aku pasti merasakan hal yang sama," kata Anders. "Tapi kamu memperlakukan setiap kalimat seolah harus bertahan selamanya. Kalimat itu cukup jelas dan akurat. Itu saja."

He suggested they work through the report's structure together. Rather than rewriting her work, he asked questions about what each section was actually trying to say. Slowly, Kavya began cutting sentences that had been added out of anxiety rather than necessity.

Ia mengusulkan agar mereka menelusuri struktur laporan itu bersama-sama. Alih-alih menulis ulang pekerjaannya, ia mengajukan pertanyaan tentang apa sebenarnya yang ingin disampaikan tiap bagian. Perlahan, Kavya mulai membuang kalimat-kalimat yang ditambahkan karena cemas, bukan karena perlu.

By Thursday evening, the report had been reorganized into something noticeably tighter, and Kavya looked visibly less tense than she had all week. "I think I've been overcomplicating this the entire time," she said, almost laughing at herself.

Pada Kamis malam, laporan itu sudah disusun ulang menjadi sesuatu yang jauh lebih ringkas, dan Kavya tampak jauh lebih santai dibanding sepanjang minggu itu. "Kurasa selama ini aku terlalu memperumit semuanya," katanya, hampir menertawakan dirinya sendiri.

"Most people do, the first few times," Anders told her. "You'll recognize it faster next time, and it'll take you half as long."

"Kebanyakan orang begitu, beberapa kali pertama," kata Anders kepadanya. "Lain kali kamu akan menyadarinya lebih cepat, dan waktunya tinggal separuh."

She thanked him, clearly relieved, and asked whether he would look over the final draft before she sent it Friday morning. He agreed, though he suspected something else. Watching her already tightening one more paragraph on her own, he had his doubts. She likely wouldn't need him to check much of anything, the next time this happened.

Ia berterima kasih, jelas lega, dan bertanya apakah Anders mau memeriksa draf akhirnya sebelum ia kirim Jumat pagi. Anders menyanggupi, meski ia menduga hal lain. Melihatnya sudah merapikan satu paragraf lagi sendirian, ia meragukannya. Mungkin ia tidak akan membutuhkan Anders untuk memeriksa apa pun, lain kali hal seperti ini terjadi.

Anders walked back to his own desk that evening with a quiet satisfaction he hadn't expected. He remembered how uncertain he had once felt in exactly her position. He also thought about how far a single afternoon of patient attention could carry someone.

Anders berjalan kembali ke mejanya sore itu dengan rasa puas yang tenang dan tak terduga. Ia teringat betapa tidak pastinya perasaannya dulu, di posisi yang persis sama. Ia juga memikirkan betapa jauh satu sore perhatian yang sabar bisa membawa seseorang.