Guest commentator: Joey McCarthy, Manager, Deloitte

“Listen, mate, I don’t have time to be your mentor. I need to go, they’re about to close the airplane door.”

Those were the last words spoken to me by a former boss as I tried to get his guidance around potentially leaving the firm. Needless to say, the follow-up email to that call was my resignation. After years of no guidance or consideration of my future, I knew that it was time to move on.

Six months later, I was meeting with a partner at my firm for the first time in person. We’d spoken an immaterial number of times but planned to meet for lunch when our team met in New York City for the first time post-COVID. As I was getting ready to leave, I got a last-minute message: “I’m running late and I’ve invited another partner.” This triggered a response in my brain – assuring me I was not a priority, and I was about to be ignored for the duration of this lunch.

After they both arrived, I shook hands and smiled, thinking “This is the last time I’m going to interact for the next hour”. Almost immediately, the partner I was originally intending to have lunch with said “I brought you both together because I think Joey would be a great addition to your project.  He’s been doing a lot of transaction work and has a background in operational accounting and systems.” I was immediately ‘redeployed’ to an incredible, multifaceted, project with high staffing revenues and high visibility to firm leadership. A year later, that same partner would reach out with another opportunity aligned with my skillset and interests. This was followed by several months of staffing revenue. A year after that, we’d be at lunch again with another opportunity. My total invested time per year was about 90 minutes.

As I grow into a management role, I try to embody the leaders I’ve seen at my firm. When I hear of opportunities, I think of those who I know that might benefit from the experience. If we show our professionals this minimal commitment in them, we know they’ll be invested in the projects and feel a greater sense of connectivity to the firm. They’ll help us grow our brand and win more work based on the service provided. I would never claim that my mentoring relationship is a disruption to my work or a material time commitment. Mentorship doesn’t need to be hand-holding and guiding.  It can be a lunch or a conversation that shows you’ve thought about their future and growth. That 90-minute investment per year will amount to several months of quality work. That sounds like a strong ROI to me.