Looking for a Mentor? Go for Someone Young
Often when we look for mentors, we look for people who have a great deal of experience and expertise in our field. However, according to a recent article in Psychology Today, the most experienced professionals, aren’t the best mentors. The reason? They simply don’t have the time to commit to helping a mentee:
A study from Northwestern University suggests when it comes to counseling, enthusiasm and commitment trump experience. Researchers found that successful academics did a great job mentoring during the first third of their careers, but advised poorly during the last third. Why the drop off? “They may have had too much on their plates to effectively oversee students or put themselves in their proteges places,” says study author R. Dean Malmgren.
Now, of course, if you are a professor, you’ve got a great deal of experience under your belt, regardless of how much time you have been on the job. And this is certainly true for many professions where a degree and experience are required to get in the door. But this article also made me think about another important aspect of mentoring: young professionals can be mentors too. If you have the time and ability to reflect meaningfully on your choices in a way that helps your mentee, you’ll be helping them and helping yourself. The benefits of mentoring often go both ways.
At the same, what good mentoring looks like varies, especially thanks to the access to technology. Mentoring someone on the job, like a professor might with her students is not the same as connecting with a leader in your field through blogging and forming an online relationship. I’ve had several people reach out to me to mentor them and they aren’t anywhere near NYC.
What do you think? Is it wise to go for someone in the very beginning of their careers as a mentor? How do you define a good mentoring relationship? At what point do you no longer need a mentor?
I think that we should look any and everywhere for a mentor. A lot of the people that I’ve learned from have indeed been my peers. I think the key to a great mentoring relationship is one where both parties can learn from each other. Age doesn’t define wisdom. The willingness to continue to improve oneself does…
[Reply]
I think that there could be situations where an early-career professional could be a great mentor, especially to people trying to get into their respective field who are of the same generation. I don’t think that everyone should start consulting with the interns at their organizations for mentoring, but it could have its place.
I define a good mentoring relationship as one where both parties benefit from it. One mentor and a very dear friend gave me the push I needed to apply for the job I have now and I have been able to support her through a job transition as a close friend — we have benefited greatly from our relationship and it did not require either of us to do anything particularly onerous. Mentoring relationships are exactly what you and your mentor make of them, so give it all you’ve got!
At this point in my career, I am not sure that there is a point in your career when you don’t need or could not use a mentor. I think everyone has always had this grand vision of a mentor as someone much older, with much more experience, but we all know that we can learn from just about anyone anywhere in age or range of experience. We just have to be open and committed to lifelong learning.
[Reply]
[...] off the hook. We think we are too young to offer someone anything valuable. However, not only is it better to mentor while you are young but also you reap a ton of benefits as a young mentor. While being a mentor is a serious [...]
[...] While it is true mentorships can be organic, it doesnt hurt to ask someone to be a mentor and be active in maintaining that relationship. Actively search for mentors and when you find someone, don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for mentorship. Keep in regular contact while being mindful of their time, share feedback on what is helpful, be open to learning. I also stress the importance of finding a mentor who has time to actually mentor you. [...]