Find a mentor. Carefully.
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself”
Oprah Winfrey
Fascinating recent article in the Journal of Career Development on the topic of mentoring. Mentoring is seen as an essential part of career development and organizations often have formal mentoring programs. For good reason. Mentoring is associated with improved salaries and job advancement for the mentoree and increased commitment and reduced turnover for the organization - what’s not to like! But Kyle Mann et al’s research into studies on mentoring suggests that mentoring is not cost-free.
The mentoring relationship involves some stress. Mentors often create additional demands and challenges on their mentees on top of their normal work responsibilities. This can be mitigated by the resources mentors provide their mentees but it's not all plain-sailing.
A few possible take-ways from this research:
Expect upfront costs - the early stages of a mentoring relationship might be particularly stressful as each party susses the other out. The benefits of the relationship are generally experienced when it's more established.
Take a risk - while formal mentoring programs reduce the stress of initiating a relationship (you are automatically matched and programmed to meet), informal ones often work better as they are usually more responsive and committed.
Pace yourself - if you're already experiencing significant stress with your workload, then consider delaying a mentoring relationship. It’s important to have a mentor but the timing needs to make the benefits outway the costs.
Mann, K., Roach, K., & O’Brien, K. (2023). Mentoring as an Investment: A Quantitative Review of Mentoring and Well-Being for the Protégé. Journal of Career Development, 50(2), 465-481. https://lnkd.in/g3GdAs94