this is a designer's perspective: your mileage may vary.
I find it helpful to differentiate between a mentor and a sponsor, even if the line does blur between the two as a lot of times people are specifically talking about one. Of the two - a sponsor is better for career advancement, while a mentor guides you as a holistic person. Having both is ideal - and they can be separate, different, or the same people.
(people contain multitudes, as the saying goes).
Mentors were better for me in the early years immediately after college - a few art directors who sawed off some rough edges of the "design eye", taught me the basics of how corporations (and their politics) worked, gave me a variety of projects so I could slowly figure out what I liked/was good at (versus not). Good managers are essentially mentors for the whole team.
One of those previously mentioned art directors became a true sponsor - he continued to give me more high profile projects and strategically dropped my name in VP/EVP meetings so I could snatch up those coveted projects with the reasonable skill level I had. Survived two rounds of layoffs due to him, as well. These are the people that you can and must be loyal to - watch their back, and they'll watch yours and groom you in a good way. There's a lot to the art of soft power behind closed doors.
The where/how question is trickier because other than looking within my org, it was just a matter of vibes and who I connected with on general chemistry level. If you find yourself in water-cooler talks with an authority figure fairly often and both of you enjoy each other's company, odds are that they would make a decent one. Look for someone with integrity, who doesn't gossip but has that sixth sense for being right about org changes, and skilled in their own specialties.
I find it helpful to differentiate between a mentor and a sponsor, even if the line does blur between the two as a lot of times people are specifically talking about one. Of the two - a sponsor is better for career advancement, while a mentor guides you as a holistic person. Having both is ideal - and they can be separate, different, or the same people.
(people contain multitudes, as the saying goes).
Mentors were better for me in the early years immediately after college - a few art directors who sawed off some rough edges of the "design eye", taught me the basics of how corporations (and their politics) worked, gave me a variety of projects so I could slowly figure out what I liked/was good at (versus not). Good managers are essentially mentors for the whole team.
One of those previously mentioned art directors became a true sponsor - he continued to give me more high profile projects and strategically dropped my name in VP/EVP meetings so I could snatch up those coveted projects with the reasonable skill level I had. Survived two rounds of layoffs due to him, as well. These are the people that you can and must be loyal to - watch their back, and they'll watch yours and groom you in a good way. There's a lot to the art of soft power behind closed doors.
The where/how question is trickier because other than looking within my org, it was just a matter of vibes and who I connected with on general chemistry level. If you find yourself in water-cooler talks with an authority figure fairly often and both of you enjoy each other's company, odds are that they would make a decent one. Look for someone with integrity, who doesn't gossip but has that sixth sense for being right about org changes, and skilled in their own specialties.