Perhaps it's just the nature of the beast. But walk down the hallways of corporate America long enough and stories abound of the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs environment where the only person you can truly depend on is yourself. While it's an atmosphere in which many thrive, others find themselves desperately in need of a lifeline. And when that support fails to materialize, it hurts both the employee and the business as a whole if the employee chooses to leave the company prematurely.

It's an issue that hasn't gone unnoticed as many organizations now sponsor internal mentoring programs, allowing both new and established employees to avail themselves of the experience, wisdom and guidance of long-tenured staffers within their respective companies.

And while it's a valuable service for anyone, it's particularly useful for people of color, women, GLBT employees and employees with disabilities. 

"The way anyone succeeds in a corporation is to have someone help them along the way, because no one does it alone. White males in corporations will often point to people that have helped them in their careers," says Patricia Miller, senior vice president at Lehman Brothers and co-head and cofounder of the Partnership Solutions Group (PSG). PSG proactively develops opportunities with women- and minority-owned firms that operate as broker dealers, hedge funds, private-equity firms, commercial banks, real-estate firms and asset-management firms.

"For women and minorities it can be more critical because, often without even realizing it, we may isolate ourselves in the workplace because we're different from the majority," she says.

In her role at Lehman, Miller has two "official" mentees while mentoring up to eight employees in an unofficial capacity. 

"Some want advice when they're in a career path that's not as challenging as it once was and are looking to position themselves for another opportunity. Some are wondering about the next promotion. Others are wondering how to have a better relationship with their boss. And still others are wondering if they should go back to business school," Miller says. "It's a whole gamut of questions and issues across a very broad spectrum. It's all about the individual and the nature of what they're trying to do."

Deborah Dagit, executive director of Diversity & Work Environment for Merck & Co., No. 34 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity^® list, believes a wealth of information can be gained from establishing these connections. "So much of the information a person needs to get their jobs done is provided informally and not written down somewhere. It's the subtleties ... the unspoken norms about who you need to know and how you need to approach a topic that [can] carry you through. Through these relationships you get to truly know a company's history ... the only way to achieve that is through mentoring. It's all about relationships."

But finding the right mentor can be a battle unto itself. And before you even begin the process, you must have a clear set of established goals.

"You want to be very clear what your objective is and what it is you want to get out of it," says Dagit. "If it's simply 'I want to get a promotion', then mentoring is not the right solution. But rather, if there's something particular you want to learn more about, get better at, or a particular challenge you want to address, then finding a mentor can be the ideal solution."

Once you have your goals in place, it's time to find a mentor. Your first stop should be your company's human-resource department to explore if your firm has an established mentor program in place.  Some companies, such as Merck, employ a Web-based program where, once specific goal objectives are inputted, the computer will match employees with mentors within the company. "But there are a lot of different ways to do it," says Dagit. "But what makes it work is when you approach someone, you don't just blurt out 'Would you be my mentor?' or 'I want you to help me advance my career.'"

Instead, suggests Dagit, you should approach your would-be mentor expressing that there's something specific that you'd like to learn while explaining specifically how you think that person might be of assistance to you. That gives your target the liberty of either agreeing to assist you personally or directing you to a more suitable candidate.

And don't fret if your first attempt at matching yourself up with an adviser doesn't go as planned. You should expect some trial and error before you find that perfect mentor.

"It's more art than science because you can't just mechanically match people. There has to be some chemistry there," says Dagit. Not surprisingly, Dagit says most often employees find themselves linking with individuals with whom they share a common bond of race or gender.

"I think the natural human tendency is to feel a little more confident or comfortable having those types of conversations with someone that shares your background," she says. "It's not intentional, but sometimes it's awkward for both parties to establish that type of relationship across differences, whether that's gender, cultural or age. It's hard to exchange knowledge in the absence of trust. That's what a mentoring relationship is all about, helping people to develop that trust so they can exchange critical information, not only to do their jobs, but also to balance their personal and professional lives and deal with other challenges they may face."

If the connection is successful, it should be reciprocal. The mentor gains as much out of the relationship as the person he or she is advising.

"I get a great sense of fulfillment knowing that some advice I've offered has made a difference in a person's career," says Miller. "The people that give me feedback on some idea that we talked about and whether it worked gives me a sense of accomplishment because it's helping people."

Miller adds from an organizational standpoint, Lehman Brothers benefits at the end of the day, as the company has a content employee instead of a disgruntled worker. "And it's the content employee that's going to make the greatest contribution in the opportunity that they have," she says. "That's a win-win for all of us."