Why Getting a Mentor is the Most Effective Way to Skyrocket Your Career
By: Kara S.
Tags: Personal Growth, Mentor, Productivity, Work, Career Development

Why having a mentor is the secret ingredient to early success

Let me first address what I mean by early success.

It doesn’t mean getting promoted quickly or making loads of money.

Early success to me means being able to work autonomously and feeling a sense of purpose in what you do.

As someone first entering the workforce, you may find yourself second-guessing your actions, struggling to take feedback, or even questioning if you chose the right career.

This is why so many young adults are quick to feel disengaged and miserable at their first job.

After recognizing these common struggles in myself and many other young adults entering the workforce, it’s so clear why mentorship is key to helping us succeed early on.

Here are five reasons why.

1. You’ll become more efficient in how you learn

As a new grad entering your first job, your eagerness to learn will sway you to learn anything (and everything) you come across. While seemingly good intentions, you’ll end up spending your time inefficiently or even learning all the wrong things.

This mentality comes from the way you perceived success in school — the more you study, the better your exam grade, the better your GPA. However, this path to success isn’t the same in the workplace.

This is where your mentor’s experience and expertise will help. They’ve already experienced and determined what is and isn’t necessary to learn.

I used to subscribe to every newsletter, read every blog, and try to listen to every podcast related to my industry, however, this left me overwhelmed. My mentor had already identified the best thought leaders, newsletters, and blogs to follow, sharing all of these resources with me.

Having a mentor with the right expertise will help ensure you’re using your time wisely and learning top-notch content.

2. You’ll take on more opportunities necessary for your growth

At your new job, you’ll either shy away from unfamiliar opportunities or say yes to every new project proposed to you.

If you’re familiar with the former, you’ll miss out on many new learning opportunities. If you’re taking on every project you come across, you may be wasting your time on all the wrong things. Having a supportive and knowledgeable mentor can help you address either struggle.

They’ll push you when you just can’t push yourself, and they’ll identify the right opportunities you should take on based on your goals.

A mentor will have you taking on new opportunities that you never knew you needed.

After one of my employee reviews, my mentor proposed that I host a new video series for our company — which I wasn’t at all experienced with.

But after developing the project and launching our first video, I realized a new interest in making videos. This project not only helped me improve my skills, but it also helped me discover a new interest in being in front of a camera.

This is one of the great qualities of having a mentor — they realize your potential even before you can.

3. They’ll provide constructive criticism that will help you, not hurt you

It’s easy for people to tell you that you’re wrong, but it’s harder to tell you why you’re wrong. This is because providing constructive criticism takes a lot of time, effort, and a touch of empathy.

A supportive mentor will provide you with valuable feedback that you can apply in the future.

Mentors have the expertise and care to deliver feedback that is both specific and valuable. They’re willing to take the time to make sure you learn from your mistakes. They’re also considerate about the delivery of their feedback, checking emotions at the door to make sure their message is clear.

I made a lot of mistakes early in my career, and my mentor never refrained from pointing them out. Although her comments were initially intimidating, they were always specific and valuable. It would have been easy to shut down from the constant feedback, yet it was clear her constructive criticism was helping me improve in my role.

Everyone has a job to do, but it’s truly a gift when you have a mentor who will take time out of their day to provide you with valuable feedback.

4. They’ll provide you with psychological safety

The first time I heard about psychological safety was from Amy Edmondson in a Harvard Business Review article. She explained:

Psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.

As a newcomer in the workforce, psychological safety is such an essential element to help you grow. It’ll help you overcome all the inevitable fears of making mistakes and give you the confidence to speak up. Luckily, having a mentor will provide this.

By having a mentor that provides this sense of safety, you’ll have someone to confide in when navigating difficult situations. If they truly support you, they’ll empathize with you, no matter what you’re going through.

I’m naturally a shy person, but I found it easy to open up to my mentor. This is because of the way she treated me, making me feel respected and heard. For example, she asked for my opinion on things, spoke highly of me with others, and always invited me to share what I was struggling with. The dynamic of our relationship felt that it was built on trust and respect, making it easy to discuss even the most difficult topics with her.

You’ll likely find yourself struggling to navigate your new work culture, but having someone you can confide in will help you gain clarity and reassurance.

5. They’ll empower you to make your own decisions

It’s easy to assume that as long as you do as you’re told and have instructions on how to complete a project, you’re bound to succeed.

Newsflash: most projects won’t come with a user manual.

Figuring things out on your own is part of the job. The reality is, your manager won’t have time to relay all the details of a project, and you’ll have to learn how to take things into your own hands.

If you struggle with this, it’s likely because you’re afraid of making the wrong choice. It’s natural to want to do the right thing, but if you let fear takeover, you’ll end up doing nothing.

The only way to get better at decision making is to gain a framework of thinking and self-confidence. Again, a mentor can help you with both of these.

Besides providing me with valuable feedback, my mentor also made sure I understood the why behind everything. By understanding the why, I was able to gain a framework of knowledge that would guide me in making decisions on my own.

Not only that, she would highlight my accomplishments, especially on projects I led myself. This helped me feel confident in my capabilities, empowering me to trust my gut when making difficult decisions.