Do you want to boost your career? You need a mentor.

“You are never done; everybody needs a coach,” it says. One of the most prominent examples is sports. In sports, the greatest needs a coach.

A mentor is different from a coach. Mentors and coaches are often thought to have similar roles. The two positions can overlap but are very different. Coaching can be part of the mentorship, but mentors are not coaches. Coaches are responsible for your meeting a specific short-term goal. A goal that is skills-based and specific. A mentor, on the other hand, is an experienced member who provides guidance and supports to empower mentees to reach their long-term goals. Mentors are experienced and knowledgeable. They are positive and supportive, respectful and caring, committed and dependable. The relationship between a mentor and a mentee is also more personal.

Why do we need a mentor? We need a mentor when we are side blinded and when we are learning ropes. For example, one needs a strong self-awareness of their strength and weakness, but often, we do not.

My daughter Phoebe participated in a 5K run with me to raise money to fight cancer on Thursday. She is too young to assess her body's condition and has little idea how far 5K is. She started strong from the beginning, spending all her energy to speed up. She was exhausted after 1 mile and could not run anymore. Panting heavily, she asked: daddy, can you carry me?

If she has a mentor, the mentor can help to assess the situation, set a realistic goal, and make a strategy. Should you run fast in the beginning or conserve energy for the final sprint? Our career is like that 5K race, it is a long journey, and we need mentors to guide us on the way.

A highly skilled surgeon wants to improve himself. So he asked his former professor to come into his operating room to observe and critique him. After the operation, he thought it went beautifully. Instead, the professor had a page of dense notes. Just small things, he said: “did you notice the light had swung out of the wound during the case? “your elbow goes up in the air occasionally. That means you are not in full control. It was a whole other level of awareness.

Often, you do not recognize the issues standing in your way. If you do, you do not necessarily know how to fix them. The consequence is that you stopped improving. Mentors are your external eyes and ears. They provide a more accurate picture of your reality.

After a year of mentoring, the surgeon noticed that the complication rate further dropped.

Mentorship is not a one-way street.

It requires farming on the land, nourishing and cherishing the relationship from both ends.

1. Be proactive.

Mentees, define your goals and specific needs when meeting with your mentor. Be proactive, create the agenda, organize calendar invitations, and complete action items.

2. Show appreciation.

You should send a thank-you note after every meeting. Beyond that, once your mentorship arrangement closes, you should continue to say thanks. A mentor once had a mentee email her two years after their partnership, which made her day.

3. Create values.

Though your age, experience, or expertise is less than your mentors. Bring your value to the table. Ask good questions, participate in group discussions, and share your personal experience. Mentoring can be a rewarding experience for both the mentor and the mentee. During a mentorship, mentors and mentees learn new ideas together, develop diverse perspectives and find new solutions to problems. The best mentorship helps both people grow.

In the Fireside chat with Aditi, she mentioned that she was lucky to have mentors. They guide her, grow her, and support her. She also said that to become a strong leader, one must continue to learn, grow, and innovate. What you learned ten years ago has changed. The most successful mentors have been mentees and often continue working with their mentors to keep learning and growing.

We all need mentors because it is not about how good you are today but how good you will be tomorrow. I am grateful to have Dr. Elizabeth Xu, Dr. Fred Ma , Dr. Snow Ge, Seng-Lai "Thomas" Tan, Ph.D. and many A2C classmates as my mentors.

“You are never done; everybody needs a mentor.” And thank you for being one of mine.