Introduction

RAISE YOUR HAND if this sounds familiar:

• You work hard and are successful by most societal measures, but something feels missing.
• You don't feel that your professional life and larger purpose are connected to each other.
• You regularly think about switching careers or starting a business but don't know how to pinpoint your niche and needs.
• You often feel as though you don't have anyone to turn to when you need advice, honest feedback, or a new perspective.
• You have received a lot of advice about work and career, but none of it really resonates with you and your circumstances.

The above resonated with me in my career, too. I came to a realization. Despite a successful career, I felt something was lacking in my professional life. I had progressed through the ranks at a Big Four management consulting firm and several leading defense contracting companies, successfully managing projects for billion-dollar clients, including government agencies. My career took off through strong creative leadership and implementing tactical solutions that attracted and retained customers. I significantly contributed to profitability, from winning multimillion-dollar accounts to overhauling internal systems to cut costs. My educational journey led me to MIT for entrepreneurship and Harvard for strategic management, studying alongside some of the brightest minds globally. At the heart of my journey was a missing element: my own identity. My early career was driven by the pursuit of financial success and climbing the corporate ladder, often neglecting deeper introspection. This mindset was shaped by the times and my background. Launching my career amid the rise of tech giants and evolving work cultures, I was swept up in a narrative of relentless ambition, often sidelining self-reflection. As a Black woman and a first-generation American, the weight of expectations left little room for anything but achievement.

It took nearing burnout to compel a profound reassessment of my career and life goals. This introspection revealed how important the role of my community served in both my success and my pursuit of what lay ahead. Finding mentors who truly resonated with my experience was challenging, but once found, they were instrumental in my growth as a professional and individual. Mentorship provided me with emotional and mental wellness in the workplace, fostering resilience and sustainability.

Mentorship, I've learned, is more than guidance; it's a nurturing process that enhances our mental and emotional well-being by sharing professional wisdom and encouragement. It's this holistic approach that makes mentorship a key factor in workplace success.

Mentorship nurtures our mental and emotional well-being, enriching our professional lives through shared experiences, expertise, and encouragement. That's why mentorship helps us become more successful at work.

This impact is mirrored in the experiences of leading companies and business figures. Employees engaged in mentoring programs are promoted five times more often than those without a mentor. Serving as a mentor also correlates with career advancement-those who serve as a mentor are six times more likely to be promoted to a higher position.1

That's just one example of the power of mentorship. Mentorship is important for the future of work and leadership, too. According to a survey by CNBC, millennial and Gen Z professionals with a mentor are 21%-23% more likely to report being satisfied with their current job compared to those without a mentor. Harvard Business Review finds that people of all ages who served as mentors experienced lower levels of anxiety and described their job as more meaningful than those who did not mentor. They also found that 89% of those who have been mentored say they'll go on to mentor others.2 The feeling of belonging, lower stress, and deep relationships tie directly to employee retention.

However, there's a noticeable disconnect between the recognized value of mentorship and how few people access it. A significant percentage of professionals acknowledge mentorship's importance, yet a much smaller number actively participate in such relationships. Even fewer establish clear objectives within these mentorships. Olivet Nazarene University surveyed 3,000 professionals on mentorship. They found that 76% of people think mentors are important, but only 37% had one. Of those who had mentoring relationships, only 41% had formal goals for the mentorship.3

In 2017, I started my first company, The Mentor Method, a platform dedicated to creating genuine mentor-mentee connections based on shared passions and interests, moving beyond traditional job roles or network-based matches. I was inspired by my strong belief in the power of mentorship, reinforced by my personal experiences. My focus was on forming powerful professional relationships that significantly alter work and life perspectives.

My journey with The Mentor Method marked significant milestones, including becoming the first Black woman in Austin to achieve a venture-backed tech exit and one of the first 100 Black women to raise over $1 million in venture funding in the US. In 2022, I was honored by Entrepreneur magazine as one of 100 Women of Influence. These achievements showcase the profound importance of mentorship across various stages of life, career, and entrepreneurship. Mentorship is instrumental in providing support, building skills, expanding networks, and helping achieve goals.

The success I've achieved in my career is largely due to the time, effort, and guidance invested in me by my mentors. My approach to seeking mentors was proactive, data-driven, and systematic, driven by a deep curiosity about the dynamics of successful mentorship. I observed a common trend: many navigate their path to success in isolation.

One reason for this is the lack of mentorship investment in many corporate environments. Additionally, conventional business wisdom often doesn't align with modern realities. Common archetypes such as the lone wolf or verbally abusive tech genius dominate the narrative, focusing on individual triumphs rather than the power of community. An entire industry of content has been developed to help you change yourself to become a singular success-not on building the community you need to thrive.

It's harder to stand out in a crowd when the majority of your team is working from home, there are fewer networking events, and people slowly step away from a culture of fear-based over-functioning in favor of a more self-advocating approach to a career lifestyle. We are inundated with career and mentorship advice from every medium and platform, telling us we earn mentors and advance in our careers by changing who we are, not by following our inner voice.

Add to that how the way we work has changed in recent years-hybrid and virtual work has been accelerated thanks to the pandemic. Before the pandemic, 61% of mentor relationships occurred naturally.4 Although how we work has changed for so many, the need for mentors remains as important as ever, but the changes in the way we work means how we bring mentors into our lives has changed as well. Organic mentorship, what is oftentimes viewed as the "ideal" mentorship structure, can be more challenging to establish if you spend most of your days working within the four walls of your home and through your computer screen. There are fewer opportunities to interact with potential mentors in person-chance meetings on the elevator or standing in line for a sandwich in the cafeteria, for example.

In writing this book, my goal is to offer distinct career guidance to learn, apply, and advance swiftly through specialized career advice that accelerates learning and advancement. It's about becoming complete individuals without fearing judgment or adhering to outdated professional standards. You're encouraged to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset in your career, relevant whether you're in a corporate, creative, or entrepreneurial role. Remember, mentorship is a key tool for you to achieve your goals.

Work is a significant driver in our lives, and considering the time we spend working or thinking about work, our careers greatly influence our quality of life. The various "isms" that affect us at work, particularly women of color, make our professional journeys crucial indicators of our overall well-being.

Mentorship is an empowering form of self-advocacy, helping you break through barriers to achieve the life you've envisioned.

Bringing Entrepreneurial Thinking to Your Career

As CEO and founder of The Mentor Method, I advised numerous executives to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset for employee retention. I emphasized the importance of treating staff retention with the same urgency as revenue and customer loss. I advocate for professionals to actively shape their careers, seeking roles that offer personal satisfaction, not just societal approval. Mentorship is needed in this journey, acting as a compass for career advancement.

My own shift from corporate roles to entrepreneurship taught me the value of entrepreneurial thinking in all professional contexts. I viewed my corporate career as my first business. I focused all of my energy on reaching a six-figure salary and paying off my student debt within the first five years of my career. This mindset parallels starting a business: I was the product, corporations were my customers, and my salary was the revenue.

Embracing...