The Mentor Sandwich: A Recipe for Career Success

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  

Alina has been Maya’s mentor for the past year. They were just about to wrap up a mentoring session at their favorite coffee shop.

“Alina, I so appreciate your being such a great mentor. You’ve helped me so much!”

“Thank you for saying that, Maya. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Maya said.

“Are you mentoring anyone?”

Maya paused. “…me? A mentor?”

“Uh huh.”

“I just don’t think I have the wisdom to be a mentor to anyone.”

“Why’s that?”

“I just feel like I have so much to learn,” Maya said.

“We all do. The point is, you’ve learned a lot about life that someone else might be able to benefit from. We’ve talked a lot about inner-city youth and your personal experiences with overcoming challenges in your upbringing. You’ve done an outstanding job and could really be helping others follow the same path you took.”

“I don’t know,” Maya said.

“How about you think about it, Maya. You’ve been a great mentee, and I think you could also be a great mentor in the right situation.”

“Okay, I will.” Maya got up from her chair. “Same time next month?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Maya walked back to her car. “Me…

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