What We Owe Each Other

Let me state plainly and directly: I don't buy a lot of the arguments about the importance of the "return to office." Most people are getting more things done and avoiding unnecessary commutes.

Additionally, I've been in enough wayward brainstorms dominated by strong personalities or the literal boss to not buy the negative impact on creativity - I am confident in the power of asynchronous ideation.

Most importantly, the pause in the everyday office experience has injected a necessary correction into the workday: the ability to go do simple things like pick up your kid from school, run an errand or decompress for 30 minutes without it being an object of workplace gossip.

So, I think companies have survived the hybrid world just fine, and employees are better off. But, if I were to agree with one concern about what we're missing from the office, it's mentorship. But here's the rub: I think mentorship was already fading because the climate does not encourage people to invest time in mentoring their direct reports.

The Great Resignation, waves after waves of layoffs, and a general corporate dictum to get younger and cheaper disincentivize senior leaders and middle managers to do anything but keep their jobs at all costs or leave as soon as they get a new opportunity.

Brett Favre famously said it wasn't his job to mentor Aaron Rodgers when his team, the Green Bay Packers, drafted the latter. He was towards the tail-end of his career and decided that he did not want to hasten his exit from the starting quarterback role.

Whatever you may feel about Brett Favre (especially after reading this), only one QB can play at any given time on an NFL team. Rodgers' rise meant his downfall.

Contrast that to Alex Smith, who had the choice of mentoring Patrick Mahomes or taking the Favre path. He chose the former, a choice that Mahomes has lauded at the culmination of every big victory. While he was traded when Mahomes immediately demonstrated his ability, Smith get to have his lengthy NFL career (which was unfortunately derailed by a catastrophic injury) and the knowledge that he helped a generational talent get to the next level quicker.

Corporate America is less zero-sum than the business of NFL quarterbacking, but it feels like we've leaned more Favre than Smith recently.

But here's my counterargument. Even if the incentive structure isn't there, we can't let mentorship lapse. We can't pull up the ladder behind us because the conditions tell us to do otherwise.

If you have someone at your company that could you use your help, help them. If someone in your industry could be taken under your wing, take them. And if you are in need of mentorship, ask for help. As you may deduce from the subject of this email, I'm more than happy to share what I've learned and what I know with anyone who wants it.