The guidance of a mentor can be very important, A mentor will help build leadership, value and character.
Strong mentor-ship can provide an advantage for any professional at any career level, but for female professionals, especially those in leadership positions, a mentor can make all the difference. Such advice can help in overcoming the many challenges that one can face in the modern workplace.
Working with a mentor can increase your chances at promotion by a factor of five, but that doesn’t mean you should jump into the first relationship that comes across your path. Take time to evaluate the opportunity, your willingness to commit and your potential mentor. Choosing the right mentor is critical. You’ll have to do the legwork to decide if this mentor is right for you. Here’s what you need to keep in mind.

Determine exactly what you need

What skills do you need to learn right now versus in a year from now?

Career development is never linear, the same mentor who can support you today may not have the skills to help you five years from now. That’s why you need to analyze your current development needs before your future ones.

Your mentor needs to help you succeed in the present before grooming you for the future. Tackle your professional development one step at a time. A 12- to 18-month timeline for a mentor and mentee relationship is often most effective.

Weigh the mentor’s strengths and weaknesses.

Especially as they relate to your style.

Don’t bend over backward changing your work style to accommodate a someone else’s lessons. You can spend your energy in better ways. Nobody is perfect – not me, not you and not your potential mentor. Is this person going to complement your style or clash with it?

More Than Just Advice, Relationships

“I look for a successful individual in a complementary business to my own–someone who has established relationships with a network of potential partnerships. By involving a mentor in the process of building my business, he or she will take pride in it and want to see it grow and prosper. With their existing relationships, the access is just an introduction away.”   ~ Benjamin Leis, Sweat EquiTees

 A Track Record of Proven Success

“I look for great business leaders with a track record of proven success. I also consider their story, where they started, what they started with and what they have become. I like to connect with mentors who share a similar story to my own because those are the mentors who have truly been in my shoes. Of course, mentors with good connections are nice as well.”  ~ Lucas Sommer, Audimated

 Someone Who Recognizes That My Path Is Different

“When I decided to go out on my own, obviously my mentors were some of the first people I turned to with the news. If you’re lucky enough to have awesome mentors, they’ll know that the path they took is going to be different from yours but can still offer advice that can help you. If your mentors start trying to dissuade you or mold you into a younger version of themselves, find new ones.” ~ Sydney Owen, 3Ring Media

 A Straight Shooter

“As a Gen Y entrepreneur, I look for business leaders who are straightforward to mentor me. I value the unedited, honest and sometimes brutal experiences and truths that they have to share. I don’t want them to sugarcoat their advice because their wisdom will undoubtedly make me a better businessperson.” ~ Lauren Maillian Bias, Luxury Market Branding

A Two-Way Street

“I look for someone who can not only bring value to me with their advice and connections, but also someone to whom I can bring value. The best mentorships are two-way streets. If you are just trying to learn from someone, they are a teacher, not a mentor. It should be a give-and-take relationship.” ~ Nathan Lustig, Entrustet

Does this person challenge you?

They should. You won’t learn anything new if your mentor doesn’t get you to consider new perspectives. Keeping in mind that your mentor should share broad philosophies with you, think very carefully about this person’s ability to bounce ideas back and forth with you too. You want someone who shares similar threads of experience with you – be it the approaches they took or the challenges they overcame in the past.

Younger people can make the mistake that mentors know better simply because they claim seniority. Those mentors rarely ever succeed, even if they think otherwise. But it’s important that anyone seeking out a mentor understands the difference between someone who deliberately teaches mentees by challenging their stances when it counts instead of dismissing their ideas routinely.

 Can you return the favor?

Mentors are supposed to get value out of your relationship as well as you. And some of these are obvious – gaining a successor, a new pillar of management in the company or a new business connection. But like the rest of us, mentors have their own immediate needs and priorities.

It pays to give back to your mentors, as they will be inclined to stay engaged in the relationship for longer. Successful mentorships are two-way streets in which the mentor learns new things as well – not by calling on the same experience that a mentor brings, but by bringing insights about new developments not present when the mentor was younger.

  Choosing the wrong mentor can set back your career instead of fast-tracking it. Be strategic about what you need to learn, make sure your styles complement each other, and bring something to the table in exchange for teaching you to learn from failure. Choosing the right mentor can be the most important career decision you’ll ever make.