Mentorship - is it sufficient?

Ask any career expert, and they’ll probably tell you that mentorship is essential for your career success.?

But is it really??

While finding a mentor is important, it must not be touted as the be-all and end-all for career success, especially for women and people of color.

Confession: Looking back, I don’t remember having long-term mentors. Most of the learnings that helped my career success came from peers, both inside and outside the companies I was in.??

As you might’ve gathered from my previous post — or the title of this newsletter ;) — I strongly believe in being a lifelong learner, asking questions, and learning new skills. People who have different experiences than you can be great sources of wisdom and inspiration.?

In my experience, the real value a mentor can add is by holding up the mirror and calling BS when you’re not being self-aware.

Early in my career as an executive, I worked for someone who helped me in this way. I had just been promoted to a leadership role to build a business out of a potential moonshot technology. After a few months of due diligence, the business team I was leading realized that the research team had overestimated the maturity of the technology breakthrough. It fell on my team to escalate the fact that the tech wasn’t commercially viable. The company had already invested a significant amount of capital into the project, and I feared that it would be a complete PR nightmare and might reflect poorly on my newly minted leadership.?

I called my boss to ask for his advice, and he said something that I’ll never forget; “Padma, you already know what to do, but are afraid to make the call. So you are trying to delegate the decision-making upward. Don’t call me because you’re afraid to make the call. Have the courage to do the right thing, and I will make sure you have the necessary air cover.”

This advice was helpful to me at that moment, not because I didn’t know what to do, but because I needed a reality check. He held up that mirror because of the relationship we had, with an open (and at times brutally honest) channel for communication. This push gave me the courage to make the tough call. Rather than costing us our jobs, my team and I were given increased responsibilities which ultimately cleared the path for me to become the CTO of the company.

And, this type of honest communication is something I have carried throughout the rest of my career, including today as the CEO at my current company, Fable .

Mentorship is beneficial but not sufficient for career advancement.

When do you need a mentor?

A mentor is great if you are looking for someone who can be a safe sounding board. A mentor should be an active listener and give you direct feedback. Mentors show you the path forward when things get tough or cloudy in your career.?

With mentorship, you get an advisor who is invested in your overall success and wellbeing rather than in improving a specific skill. A great mentor has a wealth of experience and can share lessons learned from that experience.?

So if you are looking for unbiased advice, then a mentor may be right for you. But don’t get a mentor expecting your career to take off magically :-)

How do you choose a mentor?

There are a few critical factors to consider when choosing a mentor:

• Do they have the time to commit to mentoring you?
• Do you have a trusting relationship with them? Can you build one?
• Are their experiences relatable to your own?
• Do they have the personality to be brutally honest with you?
• Are they willing to connect you with others who may be helpful to you?

Have you ever had a mentor? What was the most valuable aspect of your mentoring relationship?