Get your company to pay for your mentor.
Your company will spend 40 to 80k EUR replacing the leader who burns out. It will hesitate at 2,580 EUR for the thing that prevents it. That isn't a budget problem. It's a framing problem, and it takes one email to fix: the math, 2 or 3 KPIs, a review date.
Below: the formula, three worked examples, and the email, ready to forward.
Managers approve numbers, not feelings
"I'd grow a lot" gets you a pat on the back. A number with a review date gets you a PO. The value of mentoring over 6 months adds up from four lines:
Mentoring value over 6 months =
- money saved // attrition prevented, mis-hires avoided, firefighting hours cut
- + cost of delay avoided // roadmap items shipping on time, not a quarter late
- + missed opportunity recovered // the initiative nobody had bandwidth to lead
- + roadmap slippage avoided // commitments that hold, planned vs shipped
Rule for the ask: count only the lines you can defend in front of a CFO, then halve the total. If the result still beats 2,580 EUR by 9x, and it will, send it.
Three worked examples
Engineering Manager, team of 8
Fully loaded team cost around 800k EUR a year. One senior engineer has a foot out the door, delivery predictability sits near 60%.
KPIs for the engagement: regretted attrition zero, planned-vs-shipped from 60% to 85%, the one open underperformance case actioned within 4 weeks.
The math, counting only the retention line: replacing that senior engineer costs 40 to 60k EUR in recruiter fees, ramp-up, and lost delivery. The pack costs 2,580 EUR.One prevented departure pays for the mentoring 15 times over.
Director, 3 teams, 24 engineers
A reorg decision has been stuck for two quarters. The flagship feature, with roughly 300k EUR of annual revenue attached, is slipping with it.
KPIs: reorg decided and shipped within 6 weeks, the feature back on the committed date, both open senior roles closed.
The math, counting only cost of delay: shipping one quarter earlier on a 300k EUR revenue line is worth about 75k EUR. Halve it for CFO skepticism: 37k against 2,580.Still 14x.
Staff Engineer
A build-vs-buy platform decision with 100k+ EUR a year riding on it, and influence that stops at the team boundary.
KPIs: the decision doc written, defended, and accepted; one cross-team initiative led end to end; the promotion case documented.
The math: one platform choice gone wrong recurs every year at six figures. And if the company loses you over a stalled promotion, replacing a staff engineer runs 6 to 9 months of salary. Either line alone beats the pack price by an order of magnitude.
What to ask for, exactly
Not "a coaching budget." A fixed, reviewable engagement:
- Scope: 6 sessions over 3 months. 430 EUR per session, 2,580 EUR total, without VAT, invoiced to your company by Marian Kamenistak (sole trader) with your PO number on the invoice. Zero procurement drama.
- KPIs on paper before session 1. Pick 2 or 3 from the list below, agree them with your manager.
- Mid-point review at session 3, final review with your manager at session 6.
- Risk reversal: the intro session is free, and any session you rate under 7/10 isn't charged.
KPIs that mentoring moves in 3 to 6 months, from 3,400+ sessions with 300+ leaders:
- Zero regretted attrition on the team through the engagement.
- Delivery predictability, planned vs shipped, from your current number to 85%.
- Every underperformance case actioned within 4 weeks, not parked for two quarters.
- Open senior roles filled and ramped, time-to-hire down by a third.
- One stuck structural decision shipped: the reorg, the platform choice, the tech-debt budget.
- Your own next-level case documented and on your manager’s desk.
78% of the mentees here run company-sponsored. This is what the L&D budget exists for. The numbers behind the milestone claims are public in the mentoring statistics.
Your email, Slack note, talking points and one-pager. Built from your answers.
Need it approved? Build the case in 90 seconds: the email, a Slack version, five talking points and a one-pager your manager can forward to finance. Nothing to sign up for.
Where would the money come from?
You
Fill this in first.
The one thing to fix in the next 90 days
Fill this in first.
Tap one to start, then make it yours:
Pick or write at least one target.
Optional. Skip if you don't know.
Couldn't personalise this one, here's the standard version.
What now
If they say no
If they say yes: book the free intro call at marian.coach/meet. The invoice goes to your company with your PO number.
If the answer is yes
Book the free intro session: 30 minutes, your situation, and a concrete plan your manager can approve. If the answer is "maybe", forward them the pricing page and the cost breakdown. Still weighing mentor against coach? That comparison is here.
A smaller number to defend
Ask for €2,166, not €2,580.
The case above argues for the €2,580 quarter. Build the inquiry with my AI and the same six sessions invoice at €2,166 — €361 a session, with the itemized offer and the KPIs already written down for your manager.