As you may know, March is Women’s History Month. A woman making great history these days is Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook. Sandberg’s new book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead has a whole chapter devoted to mentoring (see the last bullet point in the link).
It’s great having a woman leader value and share the importance of mentoring in advancing one’s career and removing barriers to equal opportunity. The philosophy that has always guided me, as a mentoring consultant, is to focus on creating relationships that mutually benefit both the mentor and mentoree. These relationships are not so much about acquiring skills sets or knowledge, though that does occur, but more about having a partner in your journey to self-development and self-discovery. This is the primary reason why when employees are asked if they would rather have a coach or a mentor..the response is overwhelmingly in favor of having a mentor.
So I am excited as Sheryl moves forward with Facebook and continues to be a beacon for women and for equal opportunity in the workplace. By the way, have you mentored anyone recently? Try it. You’ll get a lot out of the experience!