If you haven’t seen this CLM, there’s an infamous email that has made its rounds through all of the Big 4 firms and many others. It all started when a regional partner sent out this email:
To: All Office Employees
From: Charlie Karlson
Subject: Thank Your Mentor DayJanuary is National Mentoring Month and January 25 is “Thank Your Mentor Day,” and an opportune way to show your appreciation for the time and effort put forth by your mentor. In anticipation of this celebration, a communication is being prepared for January 25 that will profile successful mentors, and the best practices they employ. If you’d like your mentor to be considered for inclusion in this communication, please tell us your mentoring story.
Send responses to the statements and questions below to the Mentoring Outlook address, no later than January 18:
- Mentor ’s name?
- How long has this individual been your mentor?
- An important decision your mentor has helped you make
- An important opportunity your mentor helped you secure
- An important thing you learned from your mentor
- Something unique you’ve done with your mentor
To which the new guy out of college replied:
From: Ben Marly
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 10:30 AM
To: Karlson, Charlie
Subject: RE: Thank Your Mentor DayEat me…got hammered last night and coming to the office was tough….
Ben Marly
Wow! The partner replied:
From: Karlson, Charlie
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 11:21 AM
To: Ben Marly
Subject: RE: Thank Your Mentor DayBen, I assume you mean’t this for someone else. Hope you feel better.
Charlie
And that’s when the fun began…
From: Ben Marly
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 11:24 AM
To: Ryan Bologna
Subject: FW: Thank Your Mentor DayOh my god…..I can’t believe that just happened…..I responded to the wrong message and well you see the rest…
Ben Marly
This guy is well on his way to the CLM 2006 hall of fame. Good luck! I hope you don’t get fired.