Conflict of Interest for Mentor selection?

Submitted by Jason Wyckoff
in
Career Management
I have identified someone who would be an absolutely fabulous mentor, but I don't know if there is a conflict of interest. Here's the short story: [list] [*]My boss's boss is on the Board of Directors for Vendor Company A. [*]Vendor Company A is currently doing work for my company, and I have a direct relationship with the owner of Vendor Company A. [*]The owner of Vendor Company A is the person I would like to seek as a mentor.[/list:u] Do you see any conflict of interest in seeking the owner of a vendor for our company as a mentor?
Submitted by XOLegato on Wednesday February 14th, 2007 12:40 pm

I personally don't think there is any conflict of interest... at least not one substantial enough to warrant ruling out Vendor A's owner as a mentor.

A) You say you already have a direct relationship with the owner, so the step to mentorship is not as far as it could be.

B) The bigger interest issue is your boss's boss and his position on the board of directors... a potential mentor-mentee relationship with the owner is far less volatile a situation than the boss's boss having official stakes in both companies.

I say go for it, but *DISCLAIMER* I have no experience in any related situation, so this is merely postulation on my part.

Good luck!