I help early career professionals navigate the workplace with more strategy and less confusion. To help give guidance, I have been asking senior leaders what they wish they’d learned sooner. One answer:
The fastest way to grow is to ask good questions—and ask them to the right people.

One executive I interviewed said it took her too long to realize this:
“I thought asking for help meant I wasn’t ready. Now I see it as one of the smartest, most efficient things you can do. It’s not bothering people—people are flattered when you say you want to learn from them.”

This insight isn’t just anecdotal. Carla Harris, longtime Wall Street exec and leadership expert, says in her TED talk:
“Nobody makes it alone. You need sponsors. You need mentors.”

The research backs it up:
·      A recent HBR study found that people with mentors are promoted five times more often than those without.
·      Yet only 37% of professionals say they have a mentor, and even fewer ask directly.

One reason? We wait for a “perfect” mentor to show up. But senior leaders may not have the time or skill to be a perfect mentor. So, mentors can come from unexpected places.

The key is to start by asking for guidance in specific areas:
·      “How would you have approached this situation?”
·      “What should I be paying attention to in meetings?”
·      “Can I get your input on how I handled this?”

You don’t need one mentor to solve everything. In fact, start looking for many mini mentors. You can have several wise people you can learn from over time. They can be from your past or your current company or even your social networks.

Adam Grant puts it this way: “The best way to learn from someone is to ask for advice, not feedback. Feedback looks backward. Advice looks forward.”
If you’re early in your career, this is your permission to stop waiting—and start asking.

Not because you’re unprepared.
But because learning from others is how high performers operate.