Mentoring is increasingly something we are seeking in the workplace to help us improve, but choosing the right mentor can often seem as much about luck as judgement.  New research from the Rotman School of Management highlights how we often use gut insticnt rather than reasoned criteria about the competence and expertise of the mentor.  Instead, we value enthusiasm for both us and our goals more highly.

The theory was proved by using the television talent show The Voice.  The researchers accept that the program affords a somewhat extreme version of life, but believe that the high stakes environment make it a good one for studying decision making.

“For the purposes of the research, it was perfect,” they explain. “We think that our findings apply to a wide range of contexts and all sorts of advising relationships.”

Choosing support

For those unfamiliar with the show, contestants begin by performing blind auditions to a panel of four possible coaches, all of whose chairs are turned to obscure them from the performer.  The coach then indicates if they’re interested in working with the singer by turning their chair to face the performer.  If the performers have more than one coach select them, the choice is down to them who they want to work with for the remainder of the competition.

The researchers trawled through several seasons of the show to try and find any patterns in this process.  It transpired that a major factor in the selection of a coach was the enthusiasm with which they showed for a contestant.  Their track record in the competition, and indeed the wider industry, was less of a factor.

The results were somewhat surprising, as previously, the researchers had interviewed people as they waited for a slot on the show.  They were asked about the qualities they were looking for in a mentor, and consistently rated enthusiasm below expertise and experience.  It’s a good example of a ‘prediction error’, between what we say we want, and what we actually choose.

The researchers believe the findings have value outside the world of television talent shows, as mentorship has become increasingly important in the careers of so many of us.  They advise that a checklist of qualities we look for in a mentor can help us to overcome the problem seen so visibly on The Voice.

What’s more, a final experiment from the team underlined the importance of getting this right, as they asked volunteers to sing twice.  They received feedback from randomly assigned advisors from the music trade, and lo and behold, the enthusiasm of the advisor made no real difference, with the best performance gains between the first and second performance achieved by those who had received advice from mentors with specific experience in singing.

The moral of the story seems clear: choose your mentors wisely.