St.Louis Business Journal
CAVEAT MENTOR: SOMETIMES MENTORS CAN BE A LIABILITY INSTEAD OF AN ASSET

By Anna Navarro

March 2008  

Author's note: Client stories in this column are based on actual situations fictionalized to protect privacy and told with permission.



Mentors can greatly benefit your career. They can put in a good word for you, give you perspective on what is happening, open doors to opportunities, coach you on how to improve your performance, and much more. But some mentoring situations can be more of a liability than an asset. It depends on the mentor and the circumstances.

Here are some examples of mentoring situations that turned out badly for the person being mentored.

Mentors who use you for their own benefit. Shortly after Jerry joined XYZ Corporation, a senior vice-president in another division took an interest in him. Jerry got to know him at a sales meeting when he presented some information on behalf of his department. The vice-president asked some supportive questions during the meeting that helped Jerry make his case. After the meeting Jerry stopped to thank him for his input.

The senior vice president said very positive things about Jerry’s presentation and suggested he call his secretary and schedule lunch sometime, so they could continue their exchange. Jerry did, and that was the start of their mentoring relationship.

Because of his mentor, Jerry got invited to meetings that he ordinarily might not have had access to. His mentor also nominated him to a leadership training program. These opportunities helped Jerry’s career in many ways. Jerry reciprocated by reporting to his mentor what he observed at his level of the organization.

About a year later, the President of the company stepped up to CEO and Board Chair, leaving the President’s spot open. Two senior-vice presidents were vying for the president’s role. One of them was the man who had taken an interest in Jerry. The other was the Senior Vice-President to whom Jerry’s group reported.

Jerry’s mentor left the company when he lost the battle for President. Suddenly Jerry sensed that many people within the company were hesitant to work with him or actively avoided him. In time he realized his mentor had been using him to find out what had been happening in his rival's department. Jerry's career never really recovered, and eventually he decided he too had to leave.

Mentors who become jealous of your success. In the beginning, Sara’s mentor was enormously helpful to her. She was a senior accountant and helped Sara get oriented within the department. They often went to lunch and talked about what was happening in the organization. The mentor also coached Sara through applying some accounting procedures within the company that were at first perplexing. In part because of her mentor's help, Sara’s performance shined.

About 18 months after coming on board, Sara was promoted to senior accountant, a position that had taken her mentor four years to attain. That totally changed their relationship. Suddenly, she was critical of everything Sara did, berated her in front of her boss, and gossiped about private information Sara had shared with her.

At first, Sara couldn’t figure out what had happened. Then her former mentor commented that Sara had “had it so easy” in the company. Suddenly Sara realized jealousy was fueling her mentor’s behavior. She made Sara’s life miserable for several years, until Sara finally transferred to another division.

Mentors who don’t really understand what is happening. Sometimes mentors can be generous people who have only the best motives for wanting to help you, but who lead you astray because they don’t really understand what is happening in the organization.

Pete went to his mentor for advise and counsel about a difficult situation he found himself in. His mentor was a kindly man who had been in the company a long time and seemed to have a wealth of knowledge. Pete listened closely to him, and made several decisions based on the input he got from this gentleman.

It was only after he got in trouble that he realized his mentor was very out of touch with what was really happening in the organization. Though he meant well, his advice was not sound. It took Pete a long time to regain favor after doing what his mentor had recommended.

These are just a few examples of how mentors can be a negative influence on your career. But the fact that some mentors can create problems doesn’t mean you should shy away from mentoring opportunities. It means you need to assess mentors in terms of their motives for wanting to help you, their savviness and their standing in the organization.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that trains independent career strategists and consults with individual clients.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.