Something Lisa Bennett has learned in her very successful advertising career is that you don’t have to wait to learn from someone you admire. All you have to do is ask questions, seek their advice, and admit to them (and to yourself) that you don’t know everything.

This is, of course, advertising, where people do everything from dress to mentor more casually than in, say, the banking biz. There is a lot of learning going on in agencies, but, as pointed out above, it doesn’t have to be a planned formal event.

We asked top female ad execs who and what helped them navigate their way into the leadership positions they hold. What we found is that women are scrappy about learning. They’re smart about channeling the wisdom of the people they admire and even learning from others what not do. And, they don’t wait for an invitation.

Should we be surprised that nearly all the women we spoke to cited men as their biggest mentors? Maybe not. After all, men make up the majority of our agency leaders. (But worth exploring.) What we know for certain is that the following women have a deep appreciation for those who’ve helped them and want to pay it forward.

Lisa Bennett, EVP/Creative, DDB North Amercica

Lisa experienced plenty of mentorship throughout her career, starting as an art director at Leo Burnett and making it all the way up to ECD before transitioning to DDB, where she now runs creative for all offices on the continent.

“Mentorship comes in many forms,” she says. “From people that thought they were doing me a favor by telling me what to do, to people that did me a favor by showing me what not to do.”

She points to the talented Bob Scarpelli as someone who taught her to be a better creative leader and a better person and helped her navigate two turning points in her career that were ten years apart. He, in turn, taught her what it takes to be a mentor to others

Lisa encourages people to be proactive about learning and says some of her most valuable mentors had no idea they were mentoring her.

“Confidence, curiosity and selflessness are all qualities the best mentors—whether they know they are not—will gladly respond to.”

Susan Credle, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett

One of the most notable creative directors in the industry, Susan never had an official mentor. But when she looks back on her almost 30-year career, she recognizes that she has too many mentors to count.

“I find myself realizing who my true mentors have been based on how often I quote them or tell a story about a time I was with them,” she says.

Susan considers herself a student of some of the best teachers in the business and appreciates how each person has contributed in their own unique way: Phil Dusenberry was a quiet mentor from afar. Charlie Miesmer was a colorful mentor up close. David Lubars told her she had to work to a higher, more difficult standard and welcomed her to the club. Mark Tutssel offered her a creative director position—a job that is only held by females in 3% of the cases. And if Jerry Shereshewsky hadn’t invited her to a particular dinner, she might not be where she is today.

She points to Mike Hughes as continuing to impact her simply through the way he lives his life, as well as to Cindy Gallop for shouting her name in social media, making her feel not only proud, but also the responsibility that comes with leadership.

“Anyone who has ever believed in me more than I believed in myself has been a mentor to me,” she says. “The list is long but they should all know I continue to try my best not to let them down.”

Julie Scelzo, Group Creative Director, DraftFCB

Through many years as an art director, Julie sought out the help of others and learned from many, but it wasn’t until she joined DraftFCB in San Francisco as a CD and met president, Dominic Whittles, that she found her biggest mentor.

She says that borrowing Dominic’s almost zen-like way of dealing with things makes her a better, more authentic leader and gives her a clearer head.

“I think as a woman on the creative side of advertising, I always felt like I had to act like I had a penis to get ahead,” she says. “Dominic has always treated me with complete respect and encourages me to be who I truly am.”

And that’s a lesson that carries over from the office to life.

Julie was also honest enough to bring up what might be a slightly uncomfortable subject, which is the lack of mentorship (or, at the very least, inconsistent mentorship) she experienced from women for over her 17-year career.

“I know there are a lot of women out there who support other women. But there are a lot who don’t,” she says. “Sure I have learned from some, but I have also been belittled by many.” This type of unsisterly behavior was explored in this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB10001424127887323884304578328271526080496,00.html

This is why Julie has made it her mission to continue to support and help grow the careers of other creative women. And she’s in good company. With the help of Kat Gordon’s 3% Conference, we are recognizing that, as an industry, and as female leaders, we could be doing more to help women thrive in advertising. And with organizations such as SheSays, Straight-Up and The Mentory, we’re on our way.

Carol Watson, Founder, Tangerine Watson

As head of the cross-cultural talent consultancy she founded and President of the Board of Directors of The Advertising Women of New York, Carol knows a thing or two about what it takes to make it in advertising.

And she attributes a critical part of her own career development to Denise Warren, her former boss at the New York Times and a mentor who helped her envision a role for herself that didn’t exist yet.

“I would describe myself as a renegade who loves to launch and create new products, which was not what the New York Times was about in the year 2000,” she says. “Denise brilliantly asked all the right questions when it was time for me to move to the next career position at (the company). What was I passionate about? What role would I want to play even if it didn’t exist currently?”

The role Carol described didn’t exist, but that would change months later when the publication launched a teen version in partnership with Scholastic and Carol was asked to head up the advertising and marketing.

“That experience was pivotal in guiding my career decisions moving forward and gave me the confidence to speak from the heart when there is a passion, strength and vision that I believe I can help make come to life that provides a service and value to the industry.”

Tasha McVeigh, Partner, Swirl, Inc.

 Tasha is one of the women in advertising who can lay claim to helping build an agency—in this case, a persevering agency that not only weathered the dot-com storm in San Francisco, but kept growing over 15 years to become the successful, creative agency that it is today.

While some might feel daunted by the challenge of helping lead an agency, Tasha feels lucky that she’s had the support and confidence of her biggest mentor the whole way. In fact, he was the one who enlisted her on the adventure.

“I was blessed to meet Martin Lauber early in my career;” she says, ”a person whose enthusiasm, tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit were so contagious that it became impossible to believe that anything was impossible.”

Since then, the mentorship has continued and the friendship has grown. Not surprisingly, Tasha recognizes that same entrepreneurial energy in the agency that the two helped create.

“I’m fortunate to work with partners and colleagues who, together, are an amazing culture of talent and spirit and optimism that make anything possible.”

 Sara Azadi, SVP, Group Director, Edelman Digital

 Sara soared up in her career at a young age and worked at a small handful of agencies before landing her role as Group Director of Northern California Accounts at Edelman Digital.

Of all the women we’ve spoken to, Sara is the only one who actually has scheduled lunches with her mentor and former boss of nine years, Bruce Bedortha. And though he’s made a serious contribution in helping shape Sara’s career, build her confidence and steer her in the right direction, their mentor relationship is hardly what you’d call “formal”.

“He’s the one I always text for advice or a laugh,” she says. “He always has great lines. Most are not suitable for print, like ‘you can’t the s*#t back in the donkey” or ‘you’re all overpaid kindergarteners and I’m on tantrum control.’”

Sara admits that it’s those personal nuances that make him the perfect mentor match to her fun-loving nature. But she points out that mentorship isn’t one size fits all. One person’s mentor is another person’s boss and nothing more.

“When it comes down to it, it’s a personality fit, a philosophical alignment and (a mentor’s) unwavering kindness and dedication to you, even when you were just a dummy that somehow knew it all.”

Sara believes that mentorship, like making success of most things, takes time and friendship.

And that is a great note to end on.

By Kammie McArthur