The rise of AI has created uncertainty about the future of employment across several industries, and advertising is no exception. In an era where new tools are emerging almost daily and changing the very nature of work, mentorship has never been more important. It’s within this era of change that the practice of mutual mentoring becomes so important.
The concept of mutual mentoring began in academia as universities like UMass and Cornell developed an approach that tied tenured faculty and early career professors together. The idea was that the tenured group could teach leadership, while the other, less-experienced group could teach newer, more digitally-native techniques. The concept was quickly adopted by corporate America, and today, in this age of AI, rapid technological evolution, and shifting skill sets, it’s fresher than ever.
I recently had the privilege to lead a panel on this topic at Cannes, as part of the Empower Cafe. Joining me were Julie Lyle, Board Director of Dstillery; Rebecca Dykema, Founder of the Future Works Initiative, and Anna Koicheva, Head of Business Development & Strategic Growth at Tatari.
How AI innovation changes mentoring possibilities
While the arrival of AI has shifted how many people perform their day-to-day work, the AI tools are so new to nearly everyone that this moment creates the perfect opportunity for mentorship, skill sharing, and ongoing conversations.
“As much as times have changed, they haven’t,” said Dykema. She shared a conversation with a CMO who was encouraging mutual mentorship across his group by connecting colleagues and peers to teach each other about what they were doing with AI. If the organization is committed to supporting mentorship, then the innovation and opportunity are greater for that organization.
Of course, this isn’t the only way that mentorship can happen. Learning opportunities can happen impromptu, but are more likely to happen when structure is in place, according to Lyle. She shared how early in her marketing career she found a mentor and asked for one hour a month to talk about her career goals and learn about her mentor’s career trajectory.
“When you create a structured program like that and you say, ‘I really only need an hour a month and the opportunity to travel with you and I’ll also complete a project for you,’ even the busiest leaders can find time to support your growth and development,” Lyle said.
When it comes to the actual mentoring practice, AI creates a new way for mentors and mentees to interact. Good mentorship is all about providing feedback where employees want to access it. This is the case at Tatari, which uses Claude to deliver certain kinds of feedback to employees in a neutral manner.
“You have to have a human being involved with you to support you, give you soft feedback, etc.,” Koicheva said. “But when it comes to particular KPIs and metrics in terms of how you achieve, how you improve your productivity, emotional intelligence or intellectual intelligence, it is important to actually have these neutral tools support that as well and provide that feedback.”
Continued mentorship across a career
Mentorship so often conjures images of more experienced employees guiding those just entering the workforce. While that’s a critical component, no one should ever consider themselves “too experienced” to be a mentee. The real benefit of mutual mentorship is that both sides get something out of the exchange.
As Dykema explained, some of her most beneficial relationships were when those mentors used the relationship “to see what the next generation is thinking about, to see what they’re wrestling with, to understand the complexities of their business from a totally different perspective.”
Mentorship programs are also critical for developing interpersonal and cross-generational
communication skills. “If you have the technical skills and you don’t have those skills, you will reach a cap fairly quickly in your career,” said Lyle.
Seize the moment.
Overall, every panelist agreed that this is a perfect opportunity for organizations and employees themselves to engage in mutual mentoring. While not everyone finds the perfect mentor or opportunity with their very first try, this age of AI requires us all to be curious and open to the possibilities of learning from each other.
As Lyle put it, “Luck always plays a part in everybody’s career, but luck often happens when you’re prepared and you’re ready for it and you seize the opportunities.”
