What kind of mentor do you need?
The term “mentor” can feel so broad, and it’s often easy to assume that mentorship means the same thing for everyone: an opportunity to learn from someone with more experience. While that is true, there are nuances to mentorship that can be helpful to know about so that you can find the best mentor for your needs.
In this article, I’ll be going over a few of the different types of mentors I have personally had. It’s important to note that these mentors helped me in several ways, and the descriptors I’ve used only highlight the key strengths I identified in our relationship. You can think of these mentor types as a starting point for identifying the type of advice and guidance you are looking for.
Practical Mentor
This is the type of mentor I searched for at the start of my career, someone who could provide specific advice on a particular problem I had. What I defined as a “problem” varied in many ways; sometimes it involved getting feedback on my portfolio, other times it was advice on how to improve my interview responses. The defining characteristic of this relationship was that I had an issue or something I needed help improving, and my mentor was able to give me targeted advice on how to improve on those areas immediately.
In these instances, the mentor I needed was someone who had lots of experience in a specific area, for instance, in reviewing portfolios from a hiring perspective. The areas I needed help and guidance in were tangible and focused, which meant my mentorship sessions were often methodical and technical. However, despite these mentorship sessions focusing more on my work, it didn’t mean I wasn’t able to build long-lasting relationships with these mentors. Their expertise and feedback helped me grow and develop as a designer, and I valued that greatly.
Questions I had for my practical mentors:
- How can I improve on a certain skill?
- Could you give me feedback on a piece of work?
- How do I overcome my inability to perform well in this area?
- What steps should I take to succeed in this area?
Aspirational Mentor
To a certain extent, every mentor I’ve had I’ve admired in some way. However, there are key mentors I’ve had that I initially sought out because they inspired me strongly. At times, it was their journey to success that I admired, and I wanted to learn more about how I can apply the steps they took in my own life. With other relationships, it was more about their personality and motivations, and I wanted to mirror some of the positive attributes they embodied, i.e., they were really enthusiastic speakers and I wanted to build my own self-confidence.
Often these mentors were people with skills and talents quite different from my own because I felt inspired by their capabilities in unfamiliar areas. As a UI/UX Designer, I have still been greatly inspired by the animators, marketing strategists, and entrepreneurs who have mentored me. What I gain from these mentors tends to vary greatly, but the bottom line is that there’s a sense of motivation I feel after our sessions. The advice I get isn’t always immediately applicable, but it’s something I can work on in the long run to not only improve my work but also my personal self.
Questions I had for my aspirational mentors:
- How did you get to where you are in life?
- What are some of the struggles you faced in your journey?
- How can I improve this life skill?
- What is something you wish you knew at my age or at my point in my career?
Coping Mentor
Life is hard. We all have our own battles that we face daily, and sometimes all a person wants is a listening ear. In the past, I’ve often looked to mentorship as an opportunity to voice my struggles. It’s really easy to feel alone and that what you’re going through is a unique situation, but I’ve discovered by talking to previous mentors that many hardships aren’t unique circumstances. The struggles I experienced were familiar territory to most of my mentors. The best way to describe a coping mentor is that they were a person that helped me overcome a difficult situation.
That being said, I didn’t solely use these mentorship situations as a venting session. I talked about my problems, but I was also looking for pragmatic advice on how to overcome them. I needed someone who could listen, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t looking to grow or learn from the sessions. It’s important to remember that mentors are not meant to be echo chambers, telling you what you want to hear. When straightforward advice is needed, it should be well-received. My coping mentors helped me feel safe enough to discuss my issues, but they also gave me the necessary motivation and resolve to not repeat the same mistakes.
Questions I had for my coping mentors:
- How can I overcome this difficult situation?
- What am I doing wrong and how can avoid those mistakes moving forward?
- How can I avoid being in this situation again?
- How do I view this as a learning opportunity?
Identity Mentor
As a female, African designer, learning from mentors with backgrounds similar to my own has been an incredibly valuable experience. For me, an identity mentor is someone relatable: a woman, black, from Tanzania, etc. They didn’t have to check all the boxes, but so long as they checked one, I felt that I could learn more about myself and my career trajectory from them. There was always an indescribable comfort in seeking guidance from someone who could understand me in a more personal way.
My mentorship sessions with these mentors sometimes involved discussing the experiences of our identity group. In many ways, they helped me regain confidence in who I am as a designer regardless of my background. However, I feel fortunate that every mentor I’ve had, regardless of their background, has been compassionate, understanding, and helpful. Through platforms like ADPList, I can connect with any mentor anywhere in the world, and I value the different experiences and perspectives I’ve come to learn about over time.
Questions I had for my identity mentors:
- What has been your experience working in an environment with little diversity?
- How can I avoid undermining myself because of my personal identity?
- What external resources can I use to connect with similar people?
- How do you define yourself as a designer?
I would love to know if you’ve had similar mentors, or if there are other types of mentors you’ve had! Feel free to comment or reach out on LinkedIn.
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