DEAR WW: I keep reading about how we should all have a mentor. I have no idea where to find one.

– MENTORLESS

DEAR MENTORLESS: Five police officers were busted for fishing when they were supposed to be guarding a power plant from a possible terrorist attack. The lake was right next to the plant just outside of Austin, Texas. The cops got caught when someone saw them in uniform cleaning the fish they’d just caught.

Those cops learned the hard way that it doesn’t pay to go on a fishing expedition when you’re at work. However, this rule does not apply to finding a mentor. Here you want to go on a bit of a fishing expedition to find the best person to give you advice and support (and occasionally a kick in the backside). For more, check out Love It, Don’t Leave It by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans (Berrett Koehler, 2003).

What skills or traits do I want to develop? The best mentor searches don’t begin with who is available, they begin with you and what you need to improve. So put away the rose-colored glasses and take a hard look in the mirror. What are the criticisms you’ve heard consistently through the years, what have people told you to work on and what are things that you’d like to change? Once you sort this out, then you should have a clearer view of the type of person you can learn the most from.

Do I want to learn from someone similar or someone different? This question is tougher than you’d think. There are times when you want someone who can help you refine the stuff you are already doing, and other times when you want to start fresh with an entirely new perspective.

Do I want someone I already know or someone new? This question all comes down to trust. Some of us only feel comfortable if we have history with a person, while others can easily open themselves up to a stranger. Again, the point of this column is to remind you that you have a lot more options here than you probably realize.

How much time do I want to spend? Some mentor relationships last for an hour, while others can go on for years with many meetings. What do you think the optimal timeframe is for you?

Who is the person I can learn the most from? Most of us think of a mentor as someone who is older and more powerful than we are. This isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, there is a new trend of "reverse mentoring" where top executives spend time with younger people on the front lines to learn from their perspective. So open yourself up to mentors from above, to the side and below.

Follow these tips and chances are that you’ll catch a whopper – someone who can provide just the insight you’ll need to take your career to the next level.

LIST OF THE WEEK

from The Harris Poll

The bottom of the "very prestigious" professions list (based on the percentage of survey respondents who rated the field prestigious):

• Stockbrokers             8%
• Real estate brokers    9%
• Accountants             13%
• Journalists               14%
• Union leaders, bankers, business execs   15%

from WorkingWounded.com

Have you ever had a mentor?

• Who has the time for a mentor?   2.5%
• I have one now                         21.5%
• Yes, but not now                       30.3%
• Never                                      45.5%

Our winning strategy for being a better mentor comes from R.E. in Tucker, GA: "My strategy for being a better leader is based on the concept of servant leadership. Others have stated the concept more eloquently, but, essentially, it turns the traditional leadership model on its head. We traditionally think of the boss at the top, with the little people (employees) toiling away to carry out his vision. A servant leader, however, is really at the bottom of the hierarchy, and his job is to support those who do the work. A servant leader believes in the worth of people, and it is his primary job to help them grow. He is humble, does not take credit for successes or blame others for failures, and does his best to create a caring community in which his people can thrive. In my experience, companies that are run on the values of servant leadership are some of the most successful and are consistently rated as the best places to work.