The Mentorship Flywheel
Your Secret Career Booster
Hey, product designer. Busy juggling projects and managing stakeholders? Mentoring others might not sound appealing because you have enough on your plate. But what if it might just be the career rocket fuel you've been missing?
The Mentorship Flywheel
I recently found myself in the top 1% of mentors on ADPList out of 28,000 mentors. I thought, "Am I spending too much time mentoring?" But then I realized it's a growth hack that's accelerating my career. Enter the Mentorship Flywheel.
Share Knowledge: Teach mentees your tricks.
Sharpen Skills: Explaining stuff makes you better at explaining stuff.
Build Rep: Helping by explaining = better reputation.
Grow Network: Good rep attracts new connections.
Get Fresh Ideas: New connections bring new perspectives.
Level Up Knowledge: New perspective improves your knowledge.
Each spin of this wheel makes you grow faster. Let's break it down.
From Sharing to Sharpening
Have you ever tried explaining something you hadn't really thought about before? That awkward fumbling actually makes you better. You become aware of your knowledge gaps and you’re forced to make fuzzy thoughts clear.
The result? You get better at the topic AND at explaining complex things.
From Rep to Network
As you get better at mentoring, people start talking. Your mentees might shout you out on LinkedIn or recommend you to friends. Suddenly, you're connected to ambitious junior designers, peers from other fields, and even designers more senior than you.
From New Ideas to Leveling Up
Your growing network becomes a goldmine of fresh insights. Junior designers might share cool new tools. Peers could share tricks you can steal. More senior designers might share their own hacks. All this keeps you sharp and adaptable in our fast-moving field.
The Snowball Effect
And as you learn new stuff, you have more to share. That's the beauty of the Mentorship Flywheel. As an example, people I mentored are now at places like Duolingo and Adobe, giving me their inside scoop.
But Wait, You Say...
You might have some objections:
"I don’t have time for this!"
Many great mentoring relationships only need 1-2 hours a month. It's about priorities, not time.
"I'm not expert enough!"
If you're a working designer, trust me, you've got gold to share. You don't need all the answers. You just need to be a chapter ahead.
"What if I give away all my secrets?"
Teaching will help you discover new "secrets." Our industry thrives on sharing, not hoarding.
Ready to spin that flywheel?
If you’re not mentoring, here’s what you can do right now: Sign up on ADPList or reach out to junior designers at work. Give it a try, it’s worth it.
Every time you help someone level up, you're spinning the Mentorship Flywheel, supercharging your own growth.
So, what are you waiting for? Start mentoring to accelerate your career.