At the start of the year, Ellen McCormick was promoted from overseeing a group of 25 scientists and engineers at Pfizer Inc. to her current job as a director managing hundreds of people across teams in multiple countries around the world. It was a mentor, a senior vice president in the company, who she meets with every month who helped her begin thinking about her longer-term career goals and how to make the move. "In a scientific environment and an engineering environment, you tend to think about just the projects in front of you," says McCormick. "It's with those folks that you discuss what steps are best for you to take."
But having a mentor isn't as simple as asking a manager out for coffee. To make the most of a mentor experience, take the time to think about what you want to get out of the relationship before you act, says Timothy Butler, Director of Harvard Business School's Career Development Programs and co-founder of CareerLeader.com. Here are a few key steps that can help you maximize on your mentorships:
Figure Out What You Want First
Regardless of whether your company has a formal mentorship program or you are out on your own trying to find a mentor, taking the time to set your career goals before soliciting advice is a critical first step. "A mentee should have in their mind where they want to be in the next five years," says Gregory S. Smith, author of the book: "Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO." "Mentees are looking for coaching; they are not looking for the plan."
Really think about your career goals before even reaching out to potential mentors, says Butler. Ask yourself fundamental questions about where you want to see your career heading. Do you want to become deeply focused in your particular technology? Do you want to become the manager of tech a team? Or are you interested in running part of the business? "There's work that needs to be done before you have that [first mentor] meeting," says Butler. "Don't show up and say, 'Here I am, impart your wisdom.'"
Finding the Right Match
While you might find yourself in a formal mentorship program like McCormick, likely you'll be on your own when it comes to finding a mentor. In that case, Smith recommends taking a close look at your professional network. It's not just executives in your current company that can prove useful. Alumni associations, faculty from your alma mater, or people you've worked with in the past, or know from professional user groups are all also possible sources to tap, he suggests. Identify two or three people whose career path you admire and who seem approachable and generous with their time to keep your options open.
At the same time, avoid asking someone you know too well to be a mentor. There's something to be says for maintaining a professional distance from the person offering you career advice. "You don't want someone you are going to see at a family BBQ the next night," says McCormick.
How to Make the First Move
Developing a mentor relationship is a lot like dating. Approach the initial conversation as a way to get to know each other, says Smith. He suggest meeting in an informal, neutral place outside of the office so that you feel more at ease.
And while it's important to have a sense of your career goals and what you hope to get out of a mentorship before you meet, be careful not to be overly rigid in sticking to an agenda when you get together with your mentor early on, says McCormick. Just asking about their day-to-day responsibilities will give you incredible insight into what you might be in for down the road, she says. "The trick of a mentoring relationship is first to get to know each other," she says. "Too often people have taken a list approach. I think you limit yourself that way."
Be Clear About What You're Looking For
While you don't want to overwhelm a potential mentor with commitment before getting to know him or her, formalizing the relationship -- if it isn't already a formal one -- is important to make sure you and your mentor are on the same page, says Butler. "Mentoring means something different for everyone," he says.
If you've had a few initial conversations and feel comfortable with a potential mentor, start thinking about what kind of a relationship you're looking for moving forward. For McCormick that meant meeting once a month to talk with her mentor about what steps she ought to be taking to move toward a business leadership role.
Keep in mind that there are no hard and fast rules here. For example, you might be meeting twice a year to discuss the progress you've made in six month increments if you have long-term career goals in mind, or you might need to check in every week if there's a crisis at work that requires immediate attention. Once you've established a rapport, be upfront and ask how much time your mentor is willing to invest. Can you email them with questions? Would they be willing to meet once a month or every few weeks for lunch? Find out what works for both of you and make sure you're clear on the terms of the agreement to avoid miscommunication, says Butler.
Ask the Important Questions
Don't be afraid to solicit suggestions on specific challenges you might be having on the job. For example, if you are dealing with a new boss for an annual review or uncertain how to handle certain levels of office politics, you should feel confident turning to a mentor with those kinds of questions, says Smith. At the same time, don't be shy about discussing your longer-term career plans, he says. For example, McCormick turned to her mentor for advice when she decided to go back to school for an executive MBA and for guidance on how to position herself to move from a technical to a commercial leadership role.
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There's no formula to finding and maintaining a mentor relationship. But there are important considerations to keep in mind. Before approaching your mentor, take the time to figure out what your career goals are so that you can take a more focused approach when creating a plan and soliciting advice. Be open and inquisitive but know where you're heading. It's a mentor's role to help you figure out how best to get there.
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