How do I find a management mentor outside my company?
Leaders in niche industries often get trapped in a bubble without peers to compare notes with or learn unwritten best practices from. Without external mentors or professional networks, it becomes difficult to bridge the gap in confidence, presence, and leadership knowledge compared to larger organizations.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1trying to self-teach through observation
- 2reaching out to online peers for direct advice
- 3Hiring a paid professional coach
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I'm looking to broaden my horizons as a leader, as well as seek out a peer group or mentor to see what other organizations are doing outside of my bubble. Any ideas on where to start looking?”source ↗
“Our availability didn't match great: he was only available one day per week, which was a challenging day for me to make work due to my full time job.”source ↗
“I asked to be reassigned to someone else and they finally reached out to me today, but their profile says they only do in person meetings and they are physically located an hour from me and their availability is only during my work hours.”source ↗
“Also, any appointments mentioned that I could potentially commit to were 4-6 weeks away.”source ↗
“I can tell there is a disconnect between where I am now and where someone at Big 4 would be, confidence, presence, and knowledge wise.”source ↗
“I don’t have any friends in this space. How do I “get myself up to speed” on the things that are between the lines? Are there any events or programs I can join that would pair me with a mentor?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5What to do when your plumbing foreman is a terrible teacher
- 3Job applications requiring past supervisor references
- 3How to advance a technical career without going into management
- 2How do I keep my technical skills sharp while in management?
- 8How to deal with a manager who is confidently wrong
- 10How to handle HR and finance without any specialist support