May 11, 2021 Consider for a moment the person who has most profoundly impacted your career. Take a moment to thank them. Whether you’d call that person a mentor, sponsor, or something else entirely, the more significant a presence he or she has had in your life, the more successful you are likely to be. To succeed at work, you need someone to advocate for you, put your name in the hat for stretch assignments, and make introductions. Sometimes the person is a friend, but sometimes he or she isn’t. The vast majority of men and women—76% and 83%, respectively—report having at least one mentor during their careers. The relationship between mentors and protégés differs from other types of relationships, such as friendships, supervisor/employee, or therapist/patient, though it combines elements of all of them. Mentors are role models with more experience than protégés. They provide guidance, emotional support, and an opportunity for self-reflection and development. As Simmons College professor Stacy Blake-Beard put it, mentorship is a “dynamic, reciprocal relationship that is mutually beneficial, empowering, and enabling.”