How to find a mentor
By Jennifer McPhee • Bankrate.com

Bay Street real estate lawyer Jeffrey Lem is a popular speaker at legal conferences in Toronto. His talent for delivering hilarious yet practical lectures has significantly boosted his career over the years.

But he only started public speaking because a highly regarded senior lawyer wandered over to him one day and uttered the words, "You should speak." This lawyer then opened doors that allowed this to happen, introducing Lem to other lawyers not prone to welcoming newbies into their inner circle. "The old geezer took me under his wing," says Lem affectionately.

Over the years, his mentor continued to provide big-picture advice and encouragement. "He gave me opportunities to prove myself," says Lem, now a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto.

Good mentors can help fast-forward your career, point out professional pitfalls and inspire you to take risks. Who couldn't benefit from the wisdom of those who have travelled a similar career path and found success? But how do you find a mentor?

Formal vs. informal mentoring
Informal mentoring usually begins when a seasoned professional sees the potential in someone younger and feels compelled to help that person succeed. These relationships develop naturally and are usually unstructured. Lem's relationship with his mentor falls into this category, which is how he prefers to mentor others.

He turns down requests for mentorship because he finds this process "creepy" and doesn't like the "seeming formality of the obligation." But he passes on advice and wisdom to younger lawyers with the right qualities. Typically, they're hardworking and unpretentious, they show respect and remind him of his younger self. "I've got to like them enough to worry about them," he explains.

However, many mentors and protégés are comfortable with more formal arrangements. Think of these relationships like arranged marriages -- they're just as contrived, but they often work out.

To find a mentor, find out whether your employer or a professional organization you belong to offers mentoring programs. If not, is there anyone you admire at work who could mentor you? Many mentoring relationships are forged at work because of the obvious benefits to the company.

But if there's no one suitable at work, or if you're self-employed, ask around to see how others found their mentors, suggests Theresa Dowsett, president of Workforce Acceleration, a boutique-style human resources and executive coaching firm based in Barrie, Ont. When you come across someone intriguing, ask to meet with her to get a feel for her style, she says. "If you think they would be a good fit, ask them if they would be interested," she says.

Popping the question
Kirk Hill, executive director of the Career Management Centre at Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Business Administration, has benefited from the advice of mentors and has mentored students and staff informally over the years. He has also mentored students through a formal program organized by the Vancouver Board of Trade.

Hill believes formal mentoring is most effective when the relationship is limited to three or four months and the protégé has a clear objective. "It could be that you are trying to get into a new career, or it could be that you are trying to explore a new business idea," he says. "Then the mentor doesn't feel over-obliged and the mentee knows they have to get something done," he says.