Mentor networks and career success: Lessons for turbulent times

TLDR

While traditional one‑on‑one mentoring has historically advanced managers, changing boundaryless careers and turbulent business environments now require an intelligent network of multiple mentors to sustain professional growth. We detail the advantages of a diverse mentor network and the significant roles multiple mentors can play in enriching a protégé's professional life. We offer five specific strategies for creating effective developmental relationships and building intelligent career networks. We demonstrate how multiple mentors enable protégés to continuously acquire knowledge—such as why, how, and whom competencies—that they can leverage for career and personal success within and across organizational boundaries.

Abstract

Many managers credit key professional achievements to the guidance of a mentor. Past research supports such anecdotal evidence, reporting that traditional one-on-one mentoring has been an integral component of protégé advancement, compensation, and satisfaction within traditional organizations. However, because organizational structures have changed and careers have become boundaryless, the aspiring manager today must make use of an intelligent network of multiple mentors in order to flourish in a changing workplace. This is especially true in turbulent business environments where layoffs, career plateaus, and limited promotion opportunities can derail the careers of even the most promising managers. Using support from interviews with executives, we detail the advantages of a diverse mentor network and the significant roles which multiple mentors can play in the enrichment of a protégé's professional life. We demonstrate how multiple mentors have the potential to help protégés continuously acquire knowledge (e.g., knowing why, how, and whom competencies) which they can leverage for career and personal success within and across organizational boundaries. Finally, we offer five specific strategies for creating effective developmental relationships and building intelligent career networks.