Do you have a mentor to get advice from?  Are you attending networking events to increase your knowledge and skills?

It is so important to learn from other people’s experiences in order to be successful and bridge the salary and generational gap.  We must reach out to mentors, network and attend seminars. We must ask questions and get advice from others who are where we want to be someday.

According to Mary Stutts, Senior Vice President of Elan Pharmaceuticals, women are way behind in developing and utilizing mentors.  Ms. Stutts stresses that women today are left on their own to navigate the pitfalls of balancing marriage, home, family and personal ambition.

Here is some of the best career advice I have received from my mentors:

1. Take a job where things are NOT going great. This gives you the opportunity to make an impact.  You can’t improve something if it is already running smoothly.

2. Failure is due to the leader, success is due to the team.  Great leaders know that if there is a failure, it is their fault.  If there is success, it is because of the achievements of the team.  One of my biggest frustrations is when a manager places blame on his/her employees instead of taking some of the responsibility.  Same goes when the manager takes all the credit for the successes of the team.  So frustrating!

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3. Don’t expect 100% success.  You and your employees can’t do everything perfectly. We, as managers, need to have high expectations, while allowing a little grace.

4. Do what you want to do instead of what you feel like you should do. It’s so easy to just go along that path with what you should do.  For most people they are lucky and at some point, they realize they have gone wrong and corrected it but you can save yourself so much time and trouble if you just start with what you want to do.

What is your best career advice?