The Company of Friends, Fast Company's readers' network, has grown so quickly that it's not unusual for more than half of the attendees at a cell event to be new members. Not surprisingly, it can be hard for cell associates to get to know one another well.

One cell, in San Diego, California, is overcoming that challenge by treating associates not as members but as mentors. This spring, the cell launched a program, called Mentor of the Month, in which 20 associates are paired with fellow cell members. But this isn't traditional mentoring -- it's peer-to-peer mentoring: The 20 associates make up 10 mentor teams, and the teams change every month. 'In our mentor teams, people mentor each other,' says Eloy Maes, 50, a business-systems analyst at Upper Deck Co., who is the cell's volunteer coordinator. 'I know that I have things to offer other people -- and that other people also have things to offer me.'

One team paired Alex Yates, 26, a graduate student at San Diego State University's School of Communication, with Marcia Bradley, 46, marketing manager for culture-change projects at British Airways. 'To help launch Marcia's speaking career, we hope to use the knowledge and resources that I gained when I interned at a speaker's bureau,' says Yates. 'I tagged along to catch her talk to some business leaders at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, and when I heard her speak, I could tell that she has what it takes to do well as a speaker. We may not get around to working on her speaking skills until a few months from now -- when we'll both have other mentor partners -- but that's fine. We've laid the groundwork for a long-term relationship.'

From: June 1999 issue