A few months ago, John Donahoe (eBay CEO) wrote a LinkedIn article that talked about how instead of trying to learn a lot from a few people, he had to learn a little from a lot of people.  It is definitely worth a read.  Check it out.

Specifically in that article, when I read the following sentence it resonated with me at many levels:

“I realized the perfect Yoda-like mentor didn’t exist, and no one person had all the wisdom I was seeking….”

In his post, John references mentors and managers interchangeably.  In my opinion managers can be mentors. But mentors does not have to be your managers.  Luckily I had the good fortune of having some great managers and mentors.  Spanning approximately two dozen years working for small to big companies, I have had nearly 20 managers in my career so far.  Most of them turned out to be great mentors.  Also in my career as a project manager and then as program manager, I was fortunate to interact with some amazing leaders who I consider to be my mentors as well.
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