Mentoring is often too narrowly defined. There are many types of people that can provide quality mentoring. These individuals generally fall into three categories. Although there are varying levels of commitment in each category, each one can play a critical role in your development.
ADVICE GIVER
An Advice Giver is someone that you can call upon to get a simple piece of advice around a specific issue. This may or may not be someone that you know well. It can be a peer, work colleague, family member, or friend of a friend. It is not important how well you know or how often you interact with this person; however, they offer some degree of domain expertise that is valuable and related to the topic on which you need counsel. The Advice Giver makes no pretense of commitment to your personal development. They are only there to answer a periodic question or give a piece of advice.
COACH
A Coach is more typically what people think of when they use the term “mentor”. A coach is there to provide active feedback and guidance. Coaches are typically a former boss, professor, parent, older sibling or alumnus. Coaches take more of a leadership role in your development, providing you directional advice and feedback on you current performance. A Coach makes him/herself regularly available to your for feedback and guidance.
SPONSOR
Even though a Coach is how most people envision a mentor, a Sponsor is what most people want in a mentor. A Sponsor may or may not provide the level of active feedback and guidance of a coach, but does fulfill an equally important role. A Sponsor is your personal advocate. A Sponsor protects and promotes your interests within an organization or among other groups. Sponsors are more difficult to develop than Coaches, because a Sponsor ultimately puts their reputation on the line for you. For more information on how to develop a sponsor, see my roadmap
“Developing a Sponsor within an organization”.