Paired with a much less experienced mentor
I signed up for mentorship at work. I'm a senior IC but I was hoping to get advice on launching a new team that should be high-impact enough to justify me pushing for a Staff promo in the next year or so. I've been finding it hard to adjust to dealing with executive audiences, it feels like no matter how well I prepare they jump all over the place with questions and don't pay attention to the value proposition or the plans I have to mitigate risks.
So anyway, that was my goal in signing up. I went to add my mentor on LinkedIn though and I noticed that she actually has about 1/3 the experience I do.
I think everyone has something to teach so I don't really mind but I'm not sure how realistic it is that she'll be able to help me with my goals. I'm estimating she is probably 1 or 2 levels below me in our IC career ladder, to give you an idea. IME there is just a different scope you are operating in at that point vs where I'm at in my career.
I'm wondering how to proceed if she notices the gap. I don't want to discount her volunteering her time and expertise, but it might be more realistically helpful to approach it as peers and just vibe about both of our goals given the extent of the experience gap. Is that rude to suggest?