The Differences Between a Good Advisor and a Good Mentor

Lonnie Pacelli is an Accenture/Microsoft veteran with four decades of learnings under his belt. He frequently writes and speaks on leadership, project management, work/life balance, and disability inclusion. Reach him at [email protected] and see more at ProjectManagementAdvisor.com.

  Career Development   Leadership  

I’ve been thinking a lot about my role as an advisor and mentor. As someone who has been around the business block for nearly four decades, I’ve acquired many bumps and bruises along the way.

I love sharing what I’ve learned, but I have come to realize that when I serve as an advisor, I use a different method than when I serve as a mentor. I did some introspection and wanted to get some things down for you to consider if you are entering into an advisory or mentoring relationship.

A great advisor and great mentor both share the following similar characteristics:

• Listening – Taking the time to understand problems before proposing courses of action
• Priority alignment – Not putting their own priorities ahead of an advisee/mentee
• Straight talk – Willing to say what they think as opposed to what the advisee/mentee wants to hear
• Competence –  Knowing to stay in their subject matter expertise lane
• Integrity - Walking the talk and living by their own advice or principles
• Problem solver –  Focusing on solving a problem, not just providing a solution
• Confidentiality – Keeping confidences and providing a safe environment for an advisee/mentee to be candid
• Courage to stop – Willing to stop the advisor/mentor relationship if it no longer is in the best interest of the advisee/mentee to continue
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