{"id":3895,"date":"2025-04-14T20:56:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T20:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3895"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:24:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:24:52","slug":"why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n

While high-quality mentorship boosts prot\u00e9g\u00e9s\u2019 careers, a mentor who is disinterested or unmotivated doesn\u2019t provide value to mentees. To maximize mentors\u2019 networking help and advice, mentees should highlight similarities with their mentor to strengthen mutual identification.<\/p>\n

Academy of Management Scholar Bess Rouse<\/a> of Boston College, who coauthored an Academy of Management Review<\/em> article<\/a> with Beth Humberd<\/a> of the University of Massachusetts Lowell on this topic, said that the effectiveness of mentoring depends on the mentor identifying with a mentee to form a close relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been interesting to watch the shift of people understanding more about this network structure and broader constellation of developmental relationships,\u201d Rouse said. \u201cOne of the big pieces of advice that a lot of people would give is don\u2019t look for the be-all and end-all of a mentor that\u2019s going to do all of these different functions for you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really diversifying networking and career-development efforts and understanding that different people have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to professional relationships,\u201d she said.\u201cSome people are much better at psychosocial support, the trust and friendship part of a mentoring relationship, whereas some people are much better at the career side of it and giving sponsorship opportunities or challenging you or reading your work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose benefits of mentorship can come from a range of different people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talking about pastimes cultivates identification<\/strong><\/p>\n

People enjoy talking about their pastimes and things they have in common with each other. Mentors are no exception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about not only how we are similar in terms of our work experience or where we want to go, but also commonalities as simple as like hobbies\u2014if you find somebody who plays tennis and you play tennis, use that as a conversation-starter,\u201d Rouse said. \u201cThink about how you can develop an easygoing relationship that then can build into a mentoring relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t underestimate those various forms of connection that you might use for networking and relationship-building, and think about doing those in small doses, rather than thinking, \u2018I’m going to find my mentor today\u2019\u2014it\u2019s establishing a good rapport with potential mentors,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole body of literature on positive work relationships and high-quality connections\u2014ask yourself how you can build smaller connections into bigger relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially as an introvert, thinking about having those particular strong, high-quality connections is what ends up building into those valuable mentoring relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher While high-quality mentorship boosts prot\u00e9g\u00e9s\u2019 careers, a mentor who is disinterested or unmotivated doesn\u2019t provide value to mentees. To maximize mentors\u2019 networking help and advice, mentees should highlight similarities with their mentor to strengthen mutual identification. Academy of Management Scholar Bess Rouse of Boston College, who coauthored an Academy of Management Review […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,71,29,74],"tags":[],"sp_smart_badges":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":["post-3895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","category-communicating","category-emotions","category-hr"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors - Academy of Management Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Butcher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"headline\":\"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-14T20:56:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T15:24:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":418,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/employees-talk.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"CAREERS\",\"COMMUNICATING\",\"EMOTIONS\",\"HR\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors - Academy of Management Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/employees-talk.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-14T20:56:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T15:24:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/employees-talk.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/employees-talk.webp\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Source: Shutterstock\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academy of Management Today\",\"description\":\"Smarter, faster business news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\",\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g559188980b254e0e0624aacb72ebc733\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Butcher\"},\"description\":\"Daniel Butcher is a writer and the Managing Editor of AOM Today at the Academy of Management (AOM). Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\\\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/danielbutcher\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/author\\\/daniel-butcher\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors - Academy of Management Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Butcher","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Butcher","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c"},"headline":"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors","datePublished":"2025-04-14T20:56:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T15:24:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/"},"wordCount":418,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp","articleSection":["CAREERS","COMMUNICATING","EMOTIONS","HR"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/","name":"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors - Academy of Management Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp","datePublished":"2025-04-14T20:56:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T15:24:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Source: Shutterstock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-mentees-should-highlight-similarities-with-mentors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Mentees Should Highlight Similarities with Mentors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/","name":"Academy of Management Today","description":"Smarter, faster business news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c","name":"Daniel Butcher","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g559188980b254e0e0624aacb72ebc733","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Butcher"},"description":"Daniel Butcher is a writer and the Managing Editor of AOM Today at the Academy of Management (AOM). Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/danielbutcher\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"daniel-butcher","display_name":"Daniel Butcher","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp","url2x":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp",1080,720,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp",1080,720,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp",1080,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk-300x200.webp",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk-1024x683.webp",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp",1080,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk.webp",1080,720,false],"owl_elementor_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk-600x400.webp",600,400,true],"owl_elementor_team":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk-350x450.webp",350,450,true],"owl_elementor_testimonial":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/employees-talk-100x100.webp",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Daniel Butcher","author_link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/careers\/\" rel=\"category tag\">CAREERS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/communicating\/\" rel=\"category tag\">COMMUNICATING<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/emotions\/\" rel=\"category tag\">EMOTIONS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/hr\/\" rel=\"category tag\">HR<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"By Daniel Butcher While high-quality mentorship boosts prot\u00e9g\u00e9s\u2019 careers, a mentor who is disinterested or unmotivated doesn\u2019t provide value to mentees. To maximize mentors\u2019 networking help and advice, mentees should highlight similarities with their mentor to strengthen mutual identification. Academy of Management Scholar Bess Rouse of Boston College, who coauthored an Academy of Management Review…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3895"},{"taxonomy":"sp_smart_badges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sp_smart_badges?post=3895"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}