We have all heard it before. It is important to have a mentor…someone who is successful, someone you can trust, someone you respect and can learn from. And once you’ve found that person, you’re supposed to emulate them, do what they do, and listen to their advice. For anyone looking to develop professionally, it is likely you have heard this advice before. While this advice is well known and widely followed, I disagree with it.
Our lives are multifaceted. On one end, we have our professional lives, which can be broken down into client interactions, internal relations, opportunity exploration, and so on. On the other end, we have our personal lives, which can be broken down into a limitless amount of possibilities with what we do with our free time. In both our personal and professional lives, we want to be the best that we can be. We can accomplish this with the help of mentors, but all mentors are different.
This is where having multiple mentors becomes critical. I find that taking bits and pieces from not one person, but multiple people, is what makes me a better person. Nobody is perfect; it really is true. One person can be exceptional at interacting with clients, but not play the internal relations game so well. Someone could have a wonderful relationship with their friends in their personal life, but not really have the drive or ambition to do well at work. Identifying what people in your life do well and speaking with them on how they do it should be a vital portion when choosing who your mentors will be.
Having multiple mentors also acts as protection in the case that you lose touch with one of your mentors. Someone could leave a job, move away, etc. You should always keep in touch with your mentors/mentees. In my experience, mentor-mentee relationships are very involved and you become close with people that invest in you as a person. Naturally, some of these relationships are going to be stronger, and you will trust the stronger relationship when faced with conflicting advice from mentors.
The bottom line is that mentors help shape us into who we are. So find many of them, and do so often. Find what is important to you, identify who does that well, and build a relationship with them. After all, you can never have too many mentors!
About the Author
Julie is an Academic Advisor & Lecturer in the School of Communication at Illinois State University. Julie’s job duties focus on assisting Public Relations and Journalism students plan their coursework, instructing a public speaking course and pre-professional course for Mass Media students, and coordinating a summer study abroad experience in Paris, France. Julie was previously employed in marketing at YWCA McLean County where she developed her skillset in social media, public relations and special events. She holds a B.S. and a M.S. from the School of Communication and a M.S. from the Department of English at Illinois State University. Julie is a past-president of the Bloomington-Normal AWC chapter and current serves as the Student Outreach Committee Chair with AWC National.
