Mentorships come in many forms. Embrace them all.
Years ago, when I left the Netherlands to work in California, my mentor gave me a book as a good luck gift. He had become my mentor after telling the company that it would be a shame for his 30 years of Product Management experience to retire with him, and that he’d like to pass that knowledge on to a person starting out in their career. On the first page of the book he had written the following: “I still don’t know if I learned more from you or you from me.” To me this was, and still is, a wonderful message from someone that I highly respected after “shadowing” him for a full year prior to his retirement. As you can imagine this was a huge advantage for me on my career journey.
Throughout my work life, there are and have been, many mentors both formal and informal. They became sponsors, providing guidance and feedback, while also keeping an eye out for my career advancement; informing me when any opportunities opened up that would normally only be heard about after the position was filled. I believe that sponsorship is important, especially important for women working to advance their careers.
Embrace the feedback and mentorship you receive from people you truly respect. But also listen to feedback from people you might not align with or respect as much, but don’t get hung up on it. Your mission might not correspond to theirs, so don’t let them discourage you. Take in and assimilate their feedback and move on.
Another benefit of mentorship is that over time it promotes self-awareness and provides confirmation of our own leadership style. You might understand and respect another person’s leadership style and how they organize their work life but know that you couldn’t lead in the same way. In order to successfully lead, you must maintain your authentic self with the understanding of your own personal strengths and weaknesses. You can’t lead with someone else’s style, it has to be your own. Understand it, embrace it, and own it. Knowing this is vital for building self-confidence and achieving personal growth.
I’m stating the obvious, but we all have a duty to give back and be mentors and advocates to others around us, no matter what stage they are in their careers. We wouldn’t be where we are now without our past and current mentors, so let’s help guide others along their paths. And who knows, we might learn more from our mentees than they learn from us!
