Managing Teams in the Hybrid Age: The HBR Guides Collection (8 Books)

CHAPTER 17

Mentoring Someone Who Doesn’t Know What Their Career Goals Should Be

by Tania Luna and Jordan Cohen

“Tell me about your career goals.” How often have you said this to a person you’re managing or mentoring, only to get a blank stare in return? Perhaps the person confides that they don’t know what their goals should be, or even whether there are opportunities to advance at your company. How do you begin to provide support?

Career dissatisfaction is a growing challenge in today’s world, which is why we’ve decided to do things differently at WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers), with the help of LifeLabs Learning. The results of CEB’s 2015 employee survey capture the problem well: 70% of employees surveyed (across many industries) reported ...