Management Tip: Maintain your mentoring relationship

You've secured a mentor and have benefited from some great advice, but like any relationship you need to work at keeping it fresh, says Harvard Business Review.

The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org. Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

"Securing the right mentor is a major hurdle, but maintaining the relationship can be just as challenging.

To keep the mentoring relationship going, try these three things:

1. Provide structure. Set up regular meetings with agendas so your conversations don't degenerate into aimless chitchat. Make sure each meeting moves you toward your goals.

2. Expect rigor. If your mentor doesn't provide regular assignments, ask for them, and work them into your agendas.

3. Know when to move on. Once you've achieved your goals, move on before the law of diminishing returns kicks in. But stay in touch. Your mentor may become a sponsor who advocates for you even once your formal relationship ends."

- Today's management tip was adapted from the book, "Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need."