How do you find mentorship?
[Asking this in IB forum for visibility but idc who responds.]
So I'm in the job, senior management is asking me shit like, "Do you have a mentor?"
This concept is slightly alien to me, but I think it would be good to have a mentor. I'm just not quite sure how one goes about developing that. And for the sake of argument, let's take team leads out of the equation.
So those of you who have mentors, either formally or informally, how did you go about "finding" them/developing this relationship? What does this relationship offer you and what do you offer them? (I do understand that mentorships can have tangible and intangible benefits for both parties).
Be detailed and specific if you can, because I am probably acoustic. TIA.
Bump
be likeable, coachable, and express interest in learning. then hope someone with much more experience than you takes you under their wing
I have a few mentors that I lean on, some informal, some formal. One of them (and the most important) is my first boss that has helped shepherd me through the finance world. I bounce every big decision off of him and we have a personal friendship. This to me is the ultimate mentor but there was never a formal "hey do you want to be my mentor" discussion, it just happened naturally over years of fostering the relationship. IMO to achieve this you need to have some connection beyond work that makes it work, making the relationship too transactional likely hurts your prospects of achieving this type of mentor relationship. On the other end of the spectrum is a mentor of mine who is not an investor but is rather a very successful CEO. This mentor has had several multi billion public exits and is well know in their industry as a top CEO. I led the deal execution on his latest business and he seemed to take a liking in me. I continued to foster this relationship, we have some personal things in common etc., and eventually I bluntly asked if he would like to help mentor me as I lack any mentors with real management and CEO experience. In that case I think that it is helpful to be straight forward, it is a bit scary, but it is worth it and I think can be appreciated. To me it felt like a tough ask, as I have really nothing in return that I can help this mentor with, but traditionally any good mentor is not going to look for anything in return.
Both of these mentors help me with decision making more than anything. However, in the case of the CEO mentor, I can glean incredible insights around management strategy and company building that you would be hard pressed to find. I also always think about these mentors as a safety net, a lot of us are in roles where we take on considerable risk, if that goes sideways you can be out of a job quickly, even if it isn't your fault. Thus, having someone who can help get you back up and make introductions is incredibly important.
Hope that this is helpful.
Very helpful, thank you. Do you mind elaborating more on how did you maintain contact with the CEO?
Was able to stay close because I was lead on the deal with his company which required me to spend a significant amount of time with him. Once the deal closed, I ended up taking a board seat on the company and that continued the relationship. We now work on a lot of different things together so we probably speak every other day, maybe more frequently.
Okay so pretty organic. Thanks.
Super helpful - thanks so much for sharing. Currently finding it hard to get real mentorship in finance... people just want my work product!
Can you elaborate on some of the management advice you've gotten from your CEO mentor that you mentioned is difficult to find elsewhere?
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