Alumna Sam Laird offers her best advice for finding, maintaining and benefiting from professional relationships
Sam Laird
Her startup didn’t quite work out, but the relationships Sam Laird (MBA 2022) formed at the Daniels College of Business remain.
As a student in the full-time Denver MBA program, Laird worked with the College’s Consumer Insights and Business Innovation Center (CiBiC) to develop and test her web-based app for studying organic chemistry.
Today, she works a full-time job at Ball Corporation, serving as the company’s financial planning and analysis manager. She has also leaned upon her many years of business experience in a role as a Daniels adjunct professor, teaching design-thinking and entrepreneurship.
The contacts she formed with her faculty and her classmates continue to play an important role in her professional success. In celebration of National Mentoring Month, Laird shared her best advice for finding, maintaining and benefiting from mentoring relationships.
Be proactive
“I’m going to be honest,” said Laird, an extrovert, “it’s not comfortable” seeking mentoring relationships. But being proactive is key—even after a relationship has been established.
“The advice I’ve received that’s really helped me is: ‘The mentee drives the relationship,’” she said. “It’s my responsibility to keep a good relationship and a flow of communication with my mentor.”
Like any good relationship, Laird said, forming a bond with a mentor is work. But, that said, “what I’ve always been surprised about is how people are so willing to help. You just have to ask for it.”
Diversify your mentors
Mentorship doesn’t have to revolve around one person, Laird said. In fact, it probably shouldn’t.
“What I’ve come to realize is the importance of having different mentors in your life,” she said. “You need a mentor who’s the sounding board, who you can be completely honest with and trust. You also need the coach who’s willing to be honest and help you grow outside your comfort zone. And third—and this is the one people forget the most—you need the cheerleader.”
It’s important, Laird continued, to have a “hypewoman”: someone who can talk up your success and career goals—especially in meetings you may not be part of.
To meet all of these distinct needs, it’s important to work with distinct people, instead of trying to tie all of those qualities into one person.
Mentors are all around you
Often, Laird said, mentor-mentee relationships are hierarchical. A boss or high-level executive is the most obvious source of advice and professional perspective.
Entering the MBA program at Daniels helped Laird realize that almost anyone can be a mentor. Her classmates had a broad range of experiences and expertise she could learn from.
“There were people who I felt were mentors to me in some aspects of my life, but then I could mentor them in an aspect of their life,” she said.
Her peers taught her how to build community and “tame her Type A personality.” In return, Laird offered pointers on things she had more experience with, such as how women can approach job interviews and salary negotiations.
“To me a mentor is realizing: ‘What are the tools in your tool set that can help me improve?’” she said. “Now that I’m managing a team, there is so much more opportunity to be coached by your direct reports. I think it’s embracing the attitude of learning and the attitude of being adaptable.”
Do the little things
Life gets busy. Relationships shift. Being a good mentee takes work. But, Laird said, you don’t necessarily have to be in constant contact with your advisors.
“[A mentoring relationship] can go dormant for a bit,” Laird said. But that shouldn’t deter you from asking for help—or even just saying hello. “Most likely, these people are going to be thrilled that you reached out and asked for advice. If you create good relationships, they’re invested in your success. They’re a resource.”
And, Laird said, in many cases, small actions of keeping in touch can go a long way. Writing a thank you note after a conversation, passing along a relevant article you see on LinkedIn or sending a yearly holiday card are good ways to keep things moving.
‘Mentors are critical for anyone’s success’
Finding a solid mentor can be uncomfortable. Maintaining the relationship can be a lot of work. But the payoff, Laird said, is entirely worth it.
“It cannot be stressed enough that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” Laird said.
“Mentors are critical for anyone’s success. It’s important. It will make your life easier; it will help you get opportunities; it helps you open doors that would not be able to be opened without them.”