Mentors and Alpha Mentees

I was at yet another university reunion a short while back. The outgoing chairman of the board, a pretty unpleasant alpha animal, held a long speech, one aspect of which struck me as important: mentors are hugely important to career advancement. Someone "up there" (unfortunately not in the religous sense) needs to believe in you, and open doors to you higher up in the hierarchy that you can otherwise keep knocking on until you retire. A mentor can also ensure that you can pursue relevant and increasingly important tasks, help expand your network, and be a role model in many senses. To go back to one aspect in my last post, I think a mentor can play a huge role in sustaining a long learning curve and motivation in one's work. The big question is, of course, how to find a mentor? This person needs to be sufficiently high up in the ranks or well connected to be able to help and be an example. And they need to believe in you. And how will someone believe in you? If you honestly believe in yourself - something very alpha and hence not that natural to us women...but essential.