Getting your dream job is all about whom you know—plus initiative, timing, hard work and luck. Of course talent helps too. But having someone in your corner can influence where your career ultimately leads you. Over the past two years, I immersed myself in “getting ahead” with the help of several other people.

A mentee’s role is to learn from the mentor’s example. Any great mentorship draws a line on friendship. Just as it draws a line on loaning money, property or any other such item which could destroy a mentor-mentee relationship. More than likely, the mentee already has friends of his own age in school or in the neighborhood or community. The mentee is also not looking for another friend. They’re looking for an adult who fills the need of a guide or a leader or a role model.

Some day, many years down the road the mentor and the mentee may become friends as they both will be adults and even peers. The role model part of mentoring, however, never changes as the mentee will always look to that special adult from their early years to show them the way, be available for advice and instruction and tell them what they need to hear.