Mentors: Who needs them?

Mentors play a crucial role in the life of a professional however, am I the only one who has been greatly underwhelmed with professional mentorship programs? My experience with them is that companies have them because they look good on paper and it is the right thing to do, however the execution and follow through is abysmal. The idea that you can pick a set of names from a hat, pair them together (or in some cases assign groups of mentees to one mentor) and just expect that it will all work out for the good of the mentee is gallant, but it is an approach that is designed to fail the masses.

Don't get me wrong I do believe in mentorship, however I think that a lot of thought and evaluation has to go into the relationship. In my book, HOW TO MAKE IT FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE CUBICLE, I have tackled this relationship and broke them down into the following categories:

One who has vested interest – This is someone who is helping you but will benefit from your success. So they may be conflicted into only giving you positive advice.

One who has no direct benefit – This is someone who is hard to find. They will give you honest feedback even if you won’t like it.

A sponsor – Someone who just likes you for you. They spend time building a relationship and sometimes goes beyond the call of duty to assist you. These relationships tend to span various stages of your professional life.

I subscribe to the ideal that there is somebody in your extended professional and academic network who has a characteristic or some experience that you can benefit from. Why is this important? Because if they encountered and overcame a similar set of challenges to what you are or will be facing, it will do you a world of good to learn from their mistakes and choices. Whether formally or informally you can engage them to understand their approach to determine whether or not you can adopt any of their philosophies to make your way easier. One lesson I can share is that it is hard to find one single person who encapsulates everything that you are looking for and in some instances you may need a few mentors who can advise you in various aspects. Additionally, some mentors are only for a certain stage: they may be very useful for a few years, but the advice that we get should evolve as we evolve as professionals. This could result in you having to move on.

There are many styles of mentee/mentor relationships, each having its own set of dynamics. You need to find what works best for you. That said we must understand that irrespective the mentor or group of mentors you will have throughout the course of your professional life, you have to be the owner of every decision that you make. A mentor’s intentions may be genuine but you have to live with the consequences, whether good or bad. I encapsulated how I feel about this in a quote in my book: you can take advice from anyone, but you should always make the final decision.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.