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Never underestimate the power of a career mentor. Working with someone who can relate to your goals and talents is key in getting and staying on the best career path for you. Here are some tips about finding your mentoring and fostering a good relationship with him or her.

Find your mentor. First of all, know that your boss or supervisor is not a mentor. They are your leader, and in a strange way, your competition. Are they interested in showing you the “tricks of the trade” that have gotten them to where they within the company? Uh, notsomuch. Why should they gift wrap the advantage of experience it has taken them years to achieve? However, this does not mean that looking within your own workplace for an appropriate mentor is out of the question. Senior staff members with a lifetime of experience behind them may often be willing to—even enthusiastic about—mentoring someone that reminds them of themselves at the start of their own careers. The most ideal way to acquaint yourself with a mentor is simply through networking. Happy hour and business meetings often introduce folks to each other and like minded people naturally gravitate toward each other. Sometimes businesses even offer mentoring opportunities that pair their senior employees with new hires or up-and-comers. This is also an excellent resource for forming working partnerships. If you are still unable to find a mentor through these means, contact your local workforce center for a referral.

Respect your mentor. The best mentor relationships are formed between folks who mutually respect each other and have similar characteristics, both personal and business. Along this same vein, the ability of the individual being mentored to accept constructive criticism is absolutely vital. What good does it do to willingly seek out advice and constructive criticism if you refuse to take it or follow directives? If your mentor gives you an assignment, do it in a timely manner and to the best of your ability. Otherwise you are simply wasting your time and theirs.

Don’t abuse your mentor. Lay down guidelines with reference to time. Don’t be too needy or abuse your mentor’s time. You don’t want your mentor to do an about-face and run the opposite direction when they see you coming. Establishing certain meeting hours or once a week lunch meetings will benefit both of you and avoid infringing on each others’ lives.

Consider becoming a mentor. That’s right—if you’ve enjoyed a relative amount of business success in your life, considering mentoring a more inexperience employee at your firm or in the same line of work. You will derive great enjoyment in seeing your business success play out the second time around. If you’ve got an hour or two a week, you can really perform a world of good.

Mentoring has become a major buzzword in nearly every industry. Following these few basic rules can help ensure a good mentor relationship no matter which side of the desk you’re on!