Corner Office: Shellye Archambeau: Shellye Archambeau of MetricStream, on Finding Mentors

There’s nothing better than having a mentor at work—someone to offer you guidance in your career, give you advice on your day-to-day responsibilities, and help you succeed within the organization. So when that person leaves? Well, it can be tough. Not only did you likely just lose your biggest advocate, you may also have just lost your closest friend at the office.

In Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, “Lean In“, she suggests that part of the problem facing women in the workplace is reluctance from male executives to mentor younger female employees.

Mentoring is a tricky thing: most people want it, but don't know how to get it. Mentoring is also loosely defined. Just because someone gives you advice, doesn't mean they are your mentor. Mentoring is a responsibility; a commitment that requires valuable time and focused attention to assure the mentee's goals are progressing forward. If you have one steady mentor that is adding value to your career and life, you're fortunate. Although finding a mentor is difficult and making it work is even more challenging - the rewards are abundant.

This originally appeared on Quora, a continually improving collection of questions and answers. To read other answers to this question or add your own, visit the??original question page. A:??Ian McAllister, Senior Manager, Traffic at Amazon.com I have several mentors at Amazon, and mentor a number of colleagues. I also mentor a number of startup founders. ...

Martha Samuelson of the Analysis Group says that no one should choose a mentor for political reasons.

Life and Business are hard and even the smallest measure of success requires the help of lots of mentors, friends, and family. For many of us, there is a very small number of people who have the most impact; that professor in college, that mentor during the first job, or [...]