Latest / The Career Mentor Podcast with Fexingo: Finding Mentors, Sponsors, and Career Advisors / How to Find a Mentor When You Are a Fractional Executive
Transcript
- Lucas: So here's a stat that stopped me this week: the number of fractional executives in the US has grown by about 35 percent since 2020. That's CFOs, CTOs, CMOs—seasoned leaders who work across two, three, sometimes four companies at once. And almost none of the standard mentorship advice applies to them. Luna: I've noticed that too. The typical 'find a senior mentor in your organization' advice is useless when you don't even have one organization. So what do fractional executives actually need? Lucas: Right. And before we go deep on that—if you're a fractional leader, or even just someone who's gotten value from this show thinking through your own career moves—a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these episodes ad-free and coming. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. It really does make a difference. Luna: Yeah, absolutely. And now—back to the fractional crowd. Lucas, you mentioned the growth. What's the core challenge they face with mentorship? Lucas: The core challenge is that a fractional executive already is the most senior person in the room on most topics. They've been a C-suite leader for years. So mentoring them on 'how to be a good leader' is like teaching a chef how to chop an onion. What they actually need is peer-level guidance on the business of being fractional: how to manage a client pipeline, how to price contracts, how to stay relevant when your industry shifts. Luna: So it's less about vertical mentorship—someone above you—and more about horizontal or even diagonal relationships. People doing the same thing, or adjacent things. Lucas: Exactly. And I think the most effective structure for that is a 'peer advisory board.' Not one mentor, but a small group of three to five fractional leaders from different functions or industries who meet regularly. You get the collective wisdom of people who face the same structural problems—cash flow inconsistency, scope creep, the loneliness of being the only exec on a Slack channel. Luna: I've heard of organized versions of that—Vistage groups, or the Chief network for women executives. But those cost money. Vistage is like five to eight thousand dollars a year, right? Lucas: Yeah, that's the range. And Chief is about four thousand annually. But you don't have to pay for a formal group. You can build your own. I talked to a fractional CTO who runs a monthly Zoom with three other fractional CTOs from different industries. They share their worst client stories, review each other's proposals, and one of them even passed a contract to another when they were too busy. That's the real value. Luna: That sounds more like a support group than mentorship. Is it really mentorship, or is it just good networking? Lucas: Fair question. I'd argue it's a form of lateral mentorship. Mentorship doesn't have to be top-down. The definition is someone who gives you career guidance and helps you grow. A peer who's six months ahead of you on the same path can be incredibly effective—they remember the exact problem you're facing. Luna: But what about sponsorship? You've talked before about how sponsors are different from mentors—they put their reputation on the line to open doors for you. For a fractional executive, who can be a sponsor when you don't have a single employer? Lucas: That's the million-dollar question. A sponsor for a fractional leader is someone who refers you for a gig. Could be a former client, a fellow fractional exec who's too busy, or even a recruiter who specializes in fractional placements. The key is that they trust you enough to put their name behind you. And that trust is built through the peer advisory board: you help them, they help you, and eventually they're willing to vouch for you. Luna: So the peer group becomes the feeder for sponsorship. That's a concrete framework. But let me play devil's advocate: isn't there still a need for someone more experienced? Like, what if you're a first-time fractional executive who's never run a portfolio before? Lucas: Then you probably do want a traditional mentor who's been fractional for five-plus years. But you'd find them in the same places—fractional executive networks, LinkedIn groups, or even platforms like Fiverr's Business Consulting category. The point is, the search strategy changes. You're not looking for someone at a bigger company; you're looking for someone with a similar business model. Luna: And what about the issue of staying current? If you're working across multiple industries, you might not have deep expertise in any one of them. Do you need a mentor for each industry? Lucas: You could, but that gets unwieldy. A smarter approach is to have one mentor who's an expert in the business of fractional work, and then rely on your clients or even your network for industry-specific knowledge. A fractional CFO doesn't need to be a SaaS expert—they just need to know SaaS financial metrics well enough to ask the right questions. And that can be learned through a few conversations with a peer in that space. Luna: So the portfolio career requires a portfolio of mentors, essentially. A board of advisors for your career. Lucas: Exactly. I love that framing—your personal board of directors. You need maybe three people: one who's done what you do longer, one who's in a completely different field to give you perspective, and one who's a peer at the same stage. And you meet with each of them quarterly, or as needed. Luna: That's a much more intentional structure than the typical 'let's grab coffee once a year' arrangement. But it also requires effort to maintain. How do you keep those relationships warm without them feeling transactional? Lucas: You lead with giving. Share an article relevant to their work, introduce them to someone in your network, send them a potential client lead. If you're always the one adding value first, the relationship stays genuine. And when you need their advice, it's a natural ask, not a cold outreach. Luna: One thing I've seen fractional leaders struggle with is the 'I'm not worthy' syndrome. They've been successful, but suddenly they're in a new model where they have to sell themselves constantly, and they feel like a beginner again. Lucas: That's real. And a mentor who's been through that transition can normalize it. I talked to a fractional CMO who said her first six months felt like a 'constant identity crisis.' She was a VP at a Fortune 500 before, and then she was cold-emailing startups. Her mentor—a fractional CRO—told her: 'You're not a beginner, you're just learning a new business. Your actual skills are still world-class.' That reframe was huge. Luna: So the mentor's role there is partly emotional support, partly strategy. Let's talk about the specific ask. If I'm a fractional executive listening right now, what's one concrete thing I should do this week to find a mentor or peer group? Lucas: Three steps. One: go to LinkedIn, search for 'fractional '—so 'fractional CFO' or 'fractional CTO'—and look for people who have been at it for at least two years. Two: send them a message that says, 'I'm building my career board of directors and I respect your path. Would you be open to a 20-minute call to share how you got started?' Three: after the call, ask if they know two or three other fractional leaders who might be open to forming a small peer group. Luna: I like that the ask is about connecting them to others, not just taking from them. It lowers the barrier to entry. Lucas: Exactly. And once you have three people, set a recurring monthly call. No agenda at first—just share wins and challenges. After three months, you'll have a system. And that's the infrastructure for both mentorship and sponsorship. Luna: One thing that occurs to me: this peer group model could work for non-fractional executives too, right? Anyone with a unique career path. Lucas: Absolutely. The fractional exec is just an extreme case of the modern career—multiple employers, multiple income streams, constant reinvention. The idea of a personal board of directors applies to anyone who doesn't fit the traditional corporate ladder. And that's most people now. Luna: So the takeaway: stop looking for a single Yoda. Build your council. Lucas: That's it. Yoda was a hermit on a swamp planet—not exactly a portfolio career model. Build your council.