How can I keep my boss as a mentor when she leaves?

A reader writes:

I am interning at a non-profit organization. My current boss is getting a promotion and changing jobs. She was a great boss and I want to thank her and continue her guidance, but I’m not sure how to do that without being awkward. any ideas?

Tell him! Tell her that you’ve really enjoyed working for her and why – if you can, be specific here about what she’s taught you – and say you’d love to stay in touch and potentially even meet up for coffee sometime.

You could say, “I respect your decision so much that I would love to be able to come to you as a sounding board in the future, if you’re up to it.”

From there, make a point of emailing him a few times a year with updates about what’s going on in his career, or times you’ve put things you learned from him into practice (most people love hearing the latter). People early in their careers underestimate how much they enjoy hearing things like this from people senior to them; It’s easy to assume they’re too busy or important to care about your updates, but usually people really like this stuff. (And the fact that your boss has been a good mentor to you so far suggests that she’s probably someone who would really enjoy it.)

You can also suggest coffee occasionally. Aim to do this once a year, but look for signs that he’s ready to do it more often.

A secret key to making this work is to openly appreciate him when you talk to him. The people I’ve spent the most time giving advice to are the ones who are most interested in telling me how it helped them; It feels great and is a real motivator to continue being kind to people.