How to Cherry-Pick Mentors Who Spark Your Creativity (And Why Giving Back Matters More Than You Think)
- Liza Engel
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
If I were an animal, what would I be?
That was the question a mentor once asked me—not as a joke, but as a serious prompt for self-reflection. She wasn’t trying to be clever. She was trying to get me to stop thinking like a rational consultant and start thinking like a human—with instincts, feelings, and imagination.
At first, I thought it was a strange exercise. What did this have to do with business? With strategy? With anything?
Turns out, everything.
That disarming and oddly delightful question opened the door to thinking differently about myself. It helped me detach from the labels I’d collected over the years: consultant, communicator, strategist. I stopped asking, “Who am I supposed to be in this room?” and started asking, “Who do I want to be?”
She was never interested in standard development advice. She wanted to stretch my imagination, expand my frame of reference, and help me uncover the version of myself that hadn’t yet been spoken into existence. That kind of mentorship doesn’t just build careers—it unlocks creativity.
Why Cherry-Picking Isn’t Selfish—It’s Strategic
We’re often told to find one good mentor and stick with them. However, I’ve found that real growth comes from intentionally seeking out a diverse circle of mentors who offer experience and perspective.
Some are younger than me. That’s right—reverse mentorship has been pivotal in my career. But here’s the thing: it’s not automatic. You have to do the work to meet younger mentors at eye level. You have to earn their honesty. And when you do, the reward is rich: fresh thinking, honest feedback, and a mirror held up to your blind spots.
Others come from entirely different worlds—different cultures, different values, and different definitions of success. Those differences sharpen my thinking.
A Lesson in Heimat
Years ago, I pitched a campaign about Heimat, a German word loosely translated as “homeland” or “sense of belonging.” I saw a powerful opportunity to explore what Heimat meant to modern Swiss identity, but my boss at the time disagreed.
“You’re not from here,” he said. “How could you possibly understand?”
He was wrong.
Because I wasn’t from here, I could compare. As a Canadian living in Switzerland, I had the gift of contrast. I had a different lens—and with it, a different story to tell. That moment taught me something important: being an outsider isn’t a weakness. It’s a creative advantage.
We widen our worldview by building mentor circles with voices outside our comfort zones. We stop trying to fit in and start trying to stand out—with insight.
The Science Behind Creative Mentoring
From a neuroscience perspective, the magic lies in associative thinking—the brain’s ability to connect unrelated ideas in new ways. This is the foundation of creativity, and it happens most often when we’re exposed to unfamiliar inputs: unexpected questions, contrasting cultures, and new generations.
Learning from others isn’t just about absorbing knowledge; it’s about how their differences rewire our thinking.
So your creativity might be on autopilot if your mentors all look like you, talk, and think like you.
The One Thing I’d Do Differently
If I could rewind, I’d offer more to my mentors. Not just gratitude but real value. A genuine mentor relationship is a two-way street. When someone opens their world to you, they’re taking a risk. They’re investing in your growth.
You can reciprocate by challenging their thinking, supporting their ideas, or simply showing up with humility and curiosity.
That same mentor—the one who asked me what animal I’d be—once came to me for help. She was preparing for a new keynote format in the scale-up community and wanted to redefine her styling on stage. We explored how her presence could better align with her message, and that exchange became a meaningful turning point in our relationship. It wasn’t mentor and mentee anymore. It was two creatives learning from each other.
Just recently, someone else approached me with a bold idea for a collaboration. It reminded me again that mentoring is not just about wisdom passed down. It’s about ideas built together.
Key Takeaways: How to Choose (and Use) Creative Mentors
Here are five practices to help you build a mentor circle that fuels creativity—and keeps you growing:
Pick for perspective, not prestige. Choose mentors who see the world differently from you, not just those with impressive titles.
Cultivate reverse mentorship. Learn from younger voices—and do the work to build trust.
Look outside your industry. A mentor from a different sector can spark new ways of solving problems.
Seek and embrace the outsider. The difference might be the creative edge.
Give as much as you take. Bring ideas, energy, and support into the relationship—not just questions.
Mentorship, at its best, is a creative act. It’s not about becoming a better version of someone else but your truest version.
So, if you cherry-pick your mentors, do it with care. And don’t forget to plant seeds in return.
P.S.
If you’re wondering what animal I chose in that conversation—it was a horse, of course! I thought it was intense and majestic.
My mentor’s response? “Interesting. An animal who flees when there is danger.”
For a moment, I thought I’d said the wrong thing. That’s how ingrained it was in me to give the correct answer.
But I’ve come to love that choice. I’m still a horse—born in the year of the tiger. Strong, yes. Majestic, sometimes. And always in motion: learning, growing, and ready to run when the moment calls for it.
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