A few weeks ago, someone popped back into my life completely out of the blue. This was a person who meant a lot to me and who helped me through a pretty rough time. They were the one that helped me sort through things when my head was spinning.
In a lot of ways, they became my mentor. They challenged some of the assumptions I was making about my career and helped me see decisions differently, even the ones I didn’t realize I was stuck on. They originally came to me with a professional job to do, but somewhere along the way, we became friends.
Even though we didn’t stay in close touch, there have been so many moments later when something they said came back to me exactly when I needed it. And funny enough, I had just had one of those moments when, out of nowhere, they appeared in the most unlikely place.
So what did I do? Of course, I gave this person a big hug.
A mentoring relationship
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.”
– Oprah Winfrey
I recently came across a past article by my longtime colleague, Christy Pettit of Pollinate Networks, an expert in mentoring.
In her piece, Mentoring Is Mission Critical, Christy highlights how mentoring is a powerful driver of career growth. Research from Gartner shows that employees with mentors are promoted far more often than those without.
Beyond advancement, mentoring also increases job satisfaction and retention, helping organizations reduce turnover and build a more engaged workforce. The result is lower hiring costs and teams that are more loyal, motivated, and productive.
Those benefits are especially helpful when a mentor helps bring to the surface work that often goes unnoticed. In project management, much of what we accomplish happens behind the scenes and is not always visible to those above us, which is the “invisible work” we do.
One of my recent mentees was struggling to show his boss how much of his work fell into this invisible category. To address this, we documented not only the tasks his boss already recognized, but also the behind-the-scenes work that supports others and often goes unseen.
The result? After a few good conversations with his boss, his contract was extended for another year.
Everyone’s a mentor
We all have something to offer, and at different points in life, any of us can make a difference simply by saying the right thing at the right time.
For some, mentoring becomes a true calling to serve and support others. I’ve been fortunate to have many listening ears throughout my journey as a project manager, both as a mentee and or, in my later years, as the mentor helping others.
Mentorship isn’t just a title or a formal program. It is the small, everyday ways we lift each other up, often without even realizing it. Take a moment today to share your experience, offer your insight, or simply listen.
You never know whose path you might brighten.
With 20+ years project management experience, Barbara Kephart has led projects across industries like medical software, clinical trials, and cybersecurity. With experience teaching technical project management and stakeholder engagement, Barbara is dedicated to helping companies pivot, prioritize, and complete projects with Chief Project Officer-level expertise, project professionals, practical training, and hands-on management—without the executive-level price tag.