Mentors in Your Network?

One of the most important strategic relationships you can form is with a mentor. Ideally you will have several because as you advance in your career there will be things you need to learn, experiences you need to have and perspectives you need to gain that can’t be provided by any single mentor. Successful women identify a variety of mentoring experiences as key to their advancement.

Four types of mentors you’ll want in your network:

1. Launch mentor. The person who helps set you on the career path that matches your gifts and allows you to maximize your potential. Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon reached out to a “hard nosed female vice president” early in her career and attributes much of her later success to her relationship with this launch mentor.

2. Think like a CEO mentor. This is the person who helps you develop an executive perspective on the business. Former Avon CEO, James Patterson served this role for Andrea Jung. Seeing her potential, he provided opportunities for her to speak at board meetings and increased her exposure to upper management. You might think this was about exposure, but it was really about learning how the business is viewed from the top in order to develop an executive mindset.

3. Light the path mentor. Who helps you make strategic career moves. Brenda Barnes, CEO of Sara Lee moved from marketing at Frito-Lay (a Pepsi company) into sales at Pepsi-USA on the advice of her mentor. The reasons her mentor suggested this move? To further Brenda’s career down the line.

4. No ceiling, no walls mentor. The most commonly cited is the mentor who encourages women to aspire to great heights and gives them confidence to attain them. Robert Miller served as this kind of mentor for Mary Sammons, CEO of RiteAid. She describes his impact on her earlier career this way, “He believed in me, challenged me, told me where I needed to improve.”

It’s no surprise that until Ursula Burns, many of the women CEOs of Fortune 500 firms cite men as key mentors. After all, a great mentor helps you see the world from higher levels and in most companies it’s only men who sit at the top. So, when expanding your network by adding mentors (or being picked up as a protege), be sure you think about both men and women.

Do you recognize your mentor(s) in any of the descriptions above? Let the PINK community know how the mentors in your network have helped you grow, develop and succeed.

Network ON!
By Susan Colantuono, CEO and Founder Leading Women and author of No Ceiling, No Walls