Unfortunately, such relationships are not a reality for many members of this enormous and influential generation. I have students and young professionals, many of them women, tell me how hard it is to find a mentor. Millennials regularly ask about the illustrious “mentor” as if it were a unicorn, a four leaf clover or a left-screw light bulb.
Considering the struggles that young women face in finding a mentor, I think it’s worth reframing the approach to mentoring and sharing practical ways for both sides to go about it.

What Mentorships Should Offer

Mentorship is about sharing and learning perspective in a safe space, and it is certainly a two-way street.
It’s important for mentees to feel they can let their guard down enough to share questions and challenges. In return, mentors help their mentees sharpen their thinking, enhance their courage, and build the peace and confidence that often come only with years of experience. Mentors are great for providing that invaluable “I’ve seen this movie before, and here’s what I’ve learned about how it ends” type of guidance.
But mentees aren’t the only beneficiaries in the arrangement. Mentors learn, feel inspired, and gain new perspective by seeing the world through their mentees’ eyes. Mentoring should grow confidence, open minds and enhance perspectives.

Aim for a Cup of Coffee, Not a Unicorn

Some of us will be fortunate enough to find a mentor or mentee who will stay in our lives for the long-haul. That stereotypical picture of enduring, formal mentorship is a real thing—but also part of the problem.
Young people think they have to search the world for that lucky charm. The high bar makes them believe they are alone, and in a way, the high bar makes that true. The dynamic also feels so formal and so heavy that even if there is access to a mentor in the traditional sense, it can be intimidating.
Instead of chasing lifelong arrangements, I believe in creating and finding “mentoring moments”— opportunities that are virtually everywhere, almost every minute of any given day for you to mentor a millennial. These moments can happen at the water cooler, at a café or after a meeting. If you have time for coffee, then you have time for mentorship.

Making Sense of the Mentorship Search

Unfortunately, Millennial women still struggle to find enough female role models, especially ones in seasoned business roles. For young women looking to start businesses or advance their ideas and lives, learning the stories and perspectives of diverse and experienced women builds confidence. Connecting with women who have led families, teams, communities and organizations provides an opportunity to learn from the road traveled—and to bond over dynamics and challenges unique to women.
So how do you get a mentoring relationship started? One way is to create mentoring moments right around you. In our company, experienced leaders have impromptu standing up meetings, coffees and talks with our emerging leaders and younger employees. These moments encourage the more seasoned among us to act as mentors who share advice and stories.
Another approach is to find an organization that intentionally connects young leaders with those more experienced, like CGI Lead. What initially began as a vision by Chelsea Clinton, the CGI Lead program has evolved into an innovative program that pairs top leaders with college students who have built social impact businesses. The students are already involved in projects beyond their years through their participation in CGI U, but often could use help tweaking, pivoting and scaling for optimal impact.
Take for example my mentee Bernadette Lim, a Harvard student and CGI U participant who is empowering other young women as co-founder of Women SPEAK. Through Skype and other communications, we’ve worked together on outreach strategy, pitch decks, resources, partnership mapping, and brainstorming opportunities. Two weekends ago, mentors attended CGI U 2016 at UC Berkeley, where we took deeper dives into the mechanics of scaling social impact and worked to “accelerate” our mentees’ perspectives as well as their results. Mentorship programs like CGI Lead are minimal time investments relative to their impact, and I assure you, I am learning as much from my mentee as she is from me.

Looking Forward

To those further along in their lives and careers: Instead of complaining about millennials, mentor them, even if just for a moment.
To millennials (my people): Instead of complaining that you can’t find a mentor, seek out perspective in moments from your peers and those with experience to share. You’d be surprised who will say yes. And if you do have a dedicated “mentor”—still—don’t miss out on all the mini-mentors around you every day.
Life, business and substantial social impact work can’t be done alone, and it’s just a much better ride with mentors at your side. Men and women alike should look to mentor young women, and certainly both male and female millennials stand to benefit from diverse mentors.  There is, however, special value in young women seeing and connecting with female mentors, and there is a particular lack of that pairing today. The business world (no matter the industry or sector) can present unique challenges for a young woman, and by sharing our experience, strength and perspective — we can each do our part to bring others along. If not us, who? If not now, when?