How to Find the Mentor You Need
Mentorship at any age goes way beyond “I need a mentor.” This need doesn’t change in midlife.
Like most people, you may want to find a mentor to fit a specific need. But, if you are also like most people, you may not know what kind of mentor you need. Dr. Sanjay Saint, MD, MPH, is the Chief of Medicine at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the George Dock Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Saint is a mentor’s mentor. He writes about mentoring, actively engages in mentoring, and works closely with a fellow mentor, Dr. Vineet Chopra. Dr. Saint provided insights into four types of mentors we can encounter.
1. The 1:1 Mentor
The 1:1 mentor is so often a “most wanted” mentor. Many people are fortunate to find a mentor or be matched with a mentor focused on them. One-on-one mentors help open doors, find great opportunities, groom mentees for new skills needed for a promotion, and offer emotional support as needed. But this isn’t always what we need.
When he was in medical school, Saint thought he needed a career mentor who was committed only to him—a parental-type figure who would give love, even tough love, but the focus would be caring and focused on him.
He was fortunate to find a 1:1 mentor. His mentor helped him with his writing when he didn’t feel secure in writing, and his mentor cared enough about him to put the time in to correct a paper he was writing.
Anyone could have said “good job” and handed it back, and it likely would have been rejected by the journal editor. Instead, his mentor spent time reviewing the paper and providing the harsh criticism needed to elevate his writing, and the report was improved and accepted.
Quality time is vital when mentoring a person who is developing new skills. A mentor doesn’t need to be available every day for a set amount of time, but when the mentor is putting in the time, it needs to be quality time.
A novice writer who feels insecure about their writing skills may just become a scholarly and popular author with quality time spent on expanding their writing skills.
2. The Career Mentor
A career mentor is someone who knows what your goals and boundaries are and will be able to guide you in the direction best suited to your needs. Your long-term career goals, coupled with where you are in your life, are the focus of a career mentor.
The career mentor can see that a young, married mentee with a newborn child may not have the capacity (or desire) to pursue a time-intensive career path at this juncture. Instead, focusing on a career goal with an optimal work-life balance may be just the guidance needed.
A career mentor can help a mentee see the multiple paths that can lead to their long-term goals. The expertise of a career mentor allows them to guide a mentee through courses they may not know existed or hadn’t thought of pursuing.
3. The Lateral Mentor
A lateral mentor is someone in a similar job at a different institution, or in a different job entirely at your own institution, with expertise that may complement your work.
Lateral mentors can be significant, especially when you’ve reached a certain level in your job and there aren’t many other people higher up to get advice from. Seeking mentorship from someone in a lateral role is a way to learn about different approaches to a solution.
4. The Mentorship Committee
A mentorship committee is a group of members tasked with pairing mentors with mentees. Saint points out that the diversity of perspectives represented by a group of experts from varied disciplines has benefits for both the mentors and the mentees.
The Mentorship Committee is one of those rare committees people will elect to join because the benefit to the member is tangible. Joining such a committee is an opportunity to both give and receive mentorship.
Meeting other members provides opportunities for growth and learning and can help illuminate opportunities in the workplace that wouldn’t be obvious without committee membership.
We all need mentors. And we all need mentors at every stage in our careers. Mentorship is much more than 1:1 mentoring. The main takeaway is that we must look outside ourselves, get involved with others, and become members of committees and organizations.
By connecting with others in official and casual ways, we expand our network and the possibility for informal and formal mentoring opportunities.