Starting an Internal Mentoring Program? Ask Yourself These Questions First

When I first began to climb the corporate ladder, friends and colleagues suggested that I find a mentor. I took their advice and asked my vice president at the time if there was anyone in our organization she would recommend. After a long pause, followed by incessant questions that did not pertain to anything I had asked, she finally acknowledged that there were individuals within the company previously identified as mentors, but that she wasn't sure who, if anyone, was actively mentoring current employees. Although technically we had a mentoring program, there was no structure in place to support it, which resulted in zero benefit to employees such as me.