How And Why To Seek Out Mentors Throughout Your Career

Early-career employees, at least those lucky enough to work in great organizations, are often encouraged to find and engage with mentors. As you advance in your career though, there is generally less encouragement and validation to seek out and engage with mentors. However, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests mentorship has a profound impact on people across the career cycle. That said, as your career advances, the reasons for seeking mentorship, the selection of mentors and the impact of having a mentor also change.

Mentorship Has A Positive Impact On Success Across The Career Cycle

At the front end of a career, mentors serve a host of roles, and the impact on mentees is significant. Among the many known benefits, good mentorship at the front end of a career has been found to positively impact the likelihood of being promoted and the likelihood of getting a bump up on the salary scale.

Mid-career, mentorship has been found to play a role in helping employees continue to grow on the job and make strategic horizontal and vertical moves. There is also evidence that mid-career mentorship may be especially important for women who often find themselves navigating additional challenges at work and home at this time and who are more likely than their male peers to end up plateauing in their current roles.

At the senior level, there has historically been an assumption that one naturally moves from a mentee into a full-time mentor role. However, research suggests that mentorship may be just as important and even more important for individuals in senior-level leadership positions.

Senior-Level Mentorship Positively Effects Teams And Organizations

Mentorship doesn’t just have a positive impact on the individual mentee but on the entire organization. As Suzanne de Janasz and Maury Peiperl report in their 2015 Harvard Business Review article, when CEOs receive mentorship, there appears to be a ripple effect.

Based on a survey of 45 CEOs who had received mentorship, Janasz and Peiperl found that 71% believed their company performance improved as a result. The researchers note that this is likely due to the fact that CEOs who received mentorship also report making better decisions (69%) and becoming proficient in their roles faster (84%) and hence making fewer grave mistakes.

Different Reasons, Different Mentors

As suggested, mentors have a positive impact on growth and success across the career cycle. However, the reasons why someone seeks out mentorship as an entry-level employee versus a seasoned leader and who one selects at different points in their career are distinct.

For example, while junior employees typically seek out an older and more successful mentor, for senior leaders, the most appreciated mentor may be someone junior. While senior leaders seeking the mentorship of junior employees may sound surprising, there is compelling evidence that “reverse mentorship” can help leaders build more diverse and inclusive workplaces while also developing the agility needed to keep up with technological innovations.

Identify A Great Mentor At Any Point In Your Career

Here are four questions to ask yourself at any point in your career when seeking out a mentor.

1. What do I want to learn or acquire from my mentor?

Mentors play many different roles. As a result, if you’re looking to learn something from your mentor (e.g., how your current organization works), you may want to choose a mentor based on their seniority and knowledge of your current organization. If you’re looking for someone who can serve as a sponsoring mentor, choosing someone who holds power and influence in the organization will be more important.

2. Do I have more to learn from a mentor who is senior to me, junior to me or a peer?

If you’re seeking a mentor in order to learn something, don’t assume senior is necessarily always better. As you advance in your career, a younger mentor may prove more strategic.

In other cases, you may have the most to learn from a peer. Whatever stage you’re at in your career, be open to the possibility that mentorship is often, but not always, a relationship that involves a junior employee seeking the guidance and support of someone older and wiser.

3. Where are my blindspots, and who is best positioned to help me identify them?

We all have blind spots, and depending on what these blindspots are, the ideal mentor for you may be someone with whom you don’t share much in common. It is important to bear this in mind since, all too often, when we seek out mentors, we seek out someone who is similar (e.g., the same gender, race or background) versus someone who is different.

4. Is this a person who will challenge my thinking?

The most important quality of any mentor is that they hold the capacity to challenge your thinking. In fact, whatever their position or age, when seeking a mentor, always seek out someone who will have the potential and courage to challenge you, even if you happen to be senior to them in your organizational structure or profession.

A final and important piece of wisdom on mentorship is to accept the fact that one mentor may not be able to give you everything you need. Fortunately, just like friends and advocates, it never hurts to have more than one mentor in your life.