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FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog

August 8, 2005

The Future of Mentors

Last week's Women's Leadership Exchange featured a panel of successful women: leading women's rights attorney Gloria Allred; founder and CEO of Global Smarts and former Undersecretary of Commerce for Technology Dr. Cheryl Shavers; and founder of the newest Berkshire Hathaway sweetheart, The Pampered Chef, Doris Christopher. Given the importance of mentoring in entrepreneurial success, the moderator asked who each panelist would consider her most influential mentor. And none picked a former boss, colleague, or even anyone in her field.

Ms. Christopher named her husband of thirty-eight years, who inspires her, challenges her, supports her, and does not hear her when she says "I can't do it."

Dr. Shavers noted that in her early career, in a field of "predominantly wire-head men," a mentor or role model was hard to come by. But, she noted, "every thread we find forms the tapestry of our lives," so she named as her mentor a girl from her old neighborhood -- a girl who made poor decisions that eventually cost her her life. Her mentor, then, was someone she did not want to be.

Ms. Allred named two. The first was her Great-Aunt Rachel, a female heart surgeon at a hospital in Philadelphia, a woman "who didn't cook and didn't care." She was not married and had no children, and relished her independent life as a successful professional.

As for the second, when starting her career, there weren't many women lawyers to choose from as a mentor. Ms. Allred said that instead she focused on visualizing the kind of lawyer women would want, and what a woman lawyer should be. The visualization was so effective that later, when faced with particularly daunting challenges, she would lay awake at night wistfully thinking, "I wish I could call Gloria Allred." Her visualization had taken on a life of its own, and was on its way to becoming a brand.

Partner as mentor, childhood friend as anti-mentor, self as mentor. An argument could be made that, using a strict concept of "mentor" -- one who walked this very path before you, and is willing to share his or her thoughts on the journey -- these are not mentors at all, but rather influences.

Is idea of the traditional mentor overrated? Or simply less influential a role than in the past? Does it need to be revitalized?