You Need More Than One Mentor

 
Fri 02 July 2021

You Need More Than One Mentor
“Find a mentor” is great career advice but be careful not to take it too literally. You don’t just need one. You’ll gain a more valuable outlook by triangulating advice from multiple mentors at the same time. But how do you find these mentors? The first step is to envision what you want your career and life to look like five years down the road. How will it be different from the present day? Next, create a list of the different types of support you’ll need to get from where you are now to where you want to be. Then consider which of these roles are currently fulfilled by mentors and which aren’t. Who do you go to for emotional support now? Where are you getting your tactical advice? Who helps you understand the ins and outs of your company? For any roles that are “missing” a mentor, brainstorm who could fill that need. Then you can develop new relationships or strengthen existing ones according to those needs. You’ll also find that potential mentors are much more inclined to say yes to providing support or advice on a particular topic than to the general question, “Will you be my mentor?”
This tip is adapted from “Why You Need Multiple Mentors,” by Alyssa F. Westring