The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.
-- H.L. Mencken
Mentors are great to have. Think back on those teachers back in high school who helped you decide what to be when you grow up. Think also of those amazing professors that opened your eyes to a universe that you had no idea existed.
These folks molded and shaped you into what you are, and more importantly, what you will become in life.
I've had some great mentors. Folks who really gave me a push when I needed it, or who simply gave me opportunities that I didn't yet deserve because they saw some spark in me that I didn't yet see in myself.
George Michael (no, not that George Michael) was a computational physicist at Livermore Labs. He was the crazy guy in the big office down the hall who had retired, but still came to work every day. His office was stacked floor to ceiling with old papers, drafts, proceedings, and god knows what else. A death trap in an earthquake.
George called me into his office one day. He selected about a dozen papers, seemingly at random from the stacks and told me to read them. He said, "It will be good for you." He was right!
He got me invited to several great conferences including the wildly exclusive Salishan Conference. Again, he simply said, "It will be good for you." Again, he was right.
He really got me started in High Performance Computing. I really could never thank him enough.
Jim, was another mentor. He gave me a lot of really good (though often unsolicited!) guidance. He made me think about problems and the rational argument that is a good scientific paper very differently. "It's not science unless you can measure it!" he would exclaim. Over time, we became more like peers in the grand structure and hierarchy of the Lab, but I never forgot the lessons.
Neither of these gentlemen needed to do this. They got neither recognition (other than mine) nor extra pay to do this. They weren't my advisors. They weren't my managers nor my technical directors.
They did it out of a sense of purpose. They did it to advance their view of science and of the world. It really mattered to me.
I've been a formal manager more than a few times in my career, but I like the mentorships I've forged rather better than the "power" of having direct reports.
Mentees are like cats. There are always a few strays wandering about that need the help.
Sometimes, I see someone struggling and reach out with an offer.
Most times, however, it happens accidentally. Someone asks me a few questions one day. Then a few more. Then I forward them a couple interesting articles. And then, one day, we simply realize we're in a mentoring partnership. A couple of commentators on my posts asked for some advice. I've tried to put in my $0.02 worth. Some of these are ongoing conversations. It's fun for me, and I hope useful for them.
At this stage of your careers, for most of you WSO readers, you'll be on mentored side of the equation. If you don't have a mentor. Seek one out! To quote George, "It will be good for you." You may be developing this relationship even now without realizing it. Keep atuned to the possibility.
The advice you'll score from a good mentor is very different from that of your peers, of your parents, of your advisors, of your recruiters. It will be advice that is tailored for you from the dispassionate eye of the outside observer.
My other piece of advice is to become a mentor. Reach back down the ladder of success and help pull others forward.
We reach the pinnacle of our careers not on the broken bodies of those we've climbed over, but rather on those lives we've shaped and molded who come along for the ride.
We're really all in the same boat, so, "Pull together!"
Great post, thank you! Mentors are undeniably an essential part of succeeding in finance.
Great post- cannot overstate the benefits of being mentored. Or being a mentor, for that matter- while I'm still in UG and haven't been a "formal" mentor to anybody yet, many people who are trying to follow the path that I've taken/am taking (heading into IB) have reached out to me for advice/help- it feels great to be able to offer help and advice whenever possible. Looking forward to mentoring more as I become more experience. It's- dare I say it- "good for the soul."
Thanks for the post. Could you tell us some of your biggest mistakes in life and what you would have done otherwise to avoid it? If you're willing to share, would appreciate it.
I wrote a blog post here on some of my great failures...
The first kind of mistake is the one that knowingly leads to self failure. In my case it was a depressive fugue that led me to drop out of engineering school, for instance. I knew at each step that things would get worse, but my mistake was compounded by my refusal to own up to my own shortcomings.
The second kind of mistake is the one where you made some (often very reasonable) decision given the limited information available to you. This is the "average citizen" defense. Would someone else, given the same information, have done something similar. Those are the ones that are hard to avoid.
Sometimes this second kind just comes from over-reaching. I was trying to move up from 1st line supervision to a division leader. It's not entirely clear if I was ready or not, but in my hubris, I took all the steps needed to advance my aim. Then a rival simply out-flanked me when my department leader was deposed in a coup. The rival bet on a different horse and won.
In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die.
I don't let mistakes bother me so much anymore. I have come to realize that actions (good and bad) have consequences. Sometimes foreseen, sometimes only clear in hindsight. The problem with failures is that either they come from some depression or fugue where you just don't care and you let it happen (for me that was dropping out of engineering school)
So would you say that finding a mentor is circumstance? Or does it just naturally pick up from a handful of interactions?
Circumstances throw you together and interactions happen.
I think the mentoring relationship blooms when either (1) one party decides to go that extra step [could be either the mentor digging out something special for the mentee or it could be the mentee deciding to ask for more] or (perhaps more often) (2) both parties are completely oblivious until the relationship is "just there".
Sed omnis aperiam ratione. Aut consequatur eum velit repellendus. Quis cupiditate repellendus nihil. Quasi et inventore temporibus enim cum veniam ea quasi.
Debitis ut quod dolor distinctio ipsam expedita deserunt ea. Temporibus quisquam quasi tenetur hic. Est eum in aut natus.
Dicta esse et non vero eius. Rem vel odit eum minus perferendis laudantium et. Ex sapiente molestiae occaecati. Nostrum ducimus alias quo non a a.
Dolores quo quibusdam dolorem amet explicabo doloremque vel. Omnis laborum qui neque voluptas ut ducimus et iure. Aut omnis quibusdam quibusdam ab. Suscipit ut aut omnis minima exercitationem dolor. Porro deserunt eos quod soluta rem culpa.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...