Experts agree: 2020 will forever change the way we work. More than two million women left the US workforce last year, and we have not yet seen the totality of the impact that this \u201cshe-cession\u201d will have on professional women and their families. But we do know that having women in leadership positions improves a company\u2019s performance, culture and resilience. What can women leaders do to help young professional women? Be a mentor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Do Women Need Mentors?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A recent survey<\/a> found that only 56% of American workers have had a professional mentor over the course of their career. And, of those only 69% of women have had female mentors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The harsh reality is that only 6 percent of Fortune 500 companies have a woman as CEO<\/a>\u2014and the women who eventually make it to the C-suite are united by one factor: they are products of mentoring women in the workplace. They\u2019ve learned, listened, observed and grown thanks to other women forging the path and guiding them on it. There\u2019s simply no argument that the need isn\u2019t there \u2026 because it is<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we know the importance of a diverse workforce. The Center for Creative Leadership says that recruiting women increases financial performance<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n By connecting rising stars with leaders, companies support their female talent and offer them guidance on communication skills, problem-solving strategies, and internal process navigation skills. The Center for Creative Leadership also found that people who are mentored:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t Let Them Go Without access to people who can set the next generation of women up for success and foster experiences they need (as well as support them through the ups and downs that will inevitably come their way), their career progress will most likely stall. When frustration sets in, the desire to advance may seem impossible, and many women settle for where they are\u2014or leave your organization altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Role of a Mentor<\/strong> Women often get stuck in the cycle of, \u201cIf I do a good job, people will notice \u2026 and if I work a little harder, the promotion will happen. I don\u2019t need a mentor or sponsor.\u201d Unfortunately, we know this is not always the case. New roles require new skills\u2014and mentors who have walked that path previously can help It\u2019s that simple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If your company does not have a formal mentoring program for your female workforce, I urge you to find ways to share your experiences with the young women in your company. As a leader, your expertise can help other women advance in their careers and achieve their goals. As a woman, you can have a tremendous impact on another woman (or women) and help build relationships that can have positively affect future generations of women in the workplace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Experts agree: 2020 will forever change the way we work. More than two million women left the US workforce last year, and we have not yet seen the totality of the impact that this \u201cshe-cession\u201d will have on professional women and their families. But we do know that having women in leadership positions improves a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,1],"tags":[],"qubely_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35.png",1200,1200,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-1200x750.png",1200,750,true],"portraits":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-540x320.png",540,320,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-300x300.png",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-768x768.png",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-1024x1024.png",1024,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35.png",1200,1200,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35.png",1200,1200,false],"qubely_landscape":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-1200x750.png",1200,750,true],"qubely_portrait":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-540x320.png",540,320,true],"qubely_thumbnail":["https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-35-140x100.png",140,100,true]},"qubely_author":{"display_name":"Annie McManis","author_link":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/author\/anniemac253-com\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Employers<\/a> Featured<\/a> General Information<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Experts agree: 2020 will forever change the way we work. More than two million women left the US workforce last year, and we have not yet seen the totality of the impact that this \u201cshe-cession\u201d will have on professional women and their families. But we do know that having women in leadership positions improves a…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reservesquad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/strong>In an ideal world, women would have the mentors they need to help them navigate their careers. But in many organizations, this isn\u2019t happening and it\u2019s leading to a leaky talent pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your role as mentor is to provide guidance for career choices and decisions, as well as help your mentee determine paths to meet specific career goals. Be active in the relationship\u2014don\u2019t rely solely on the mentee to drive it. Check in, meet for coffee, set up regular meetings and ultimately be as connected as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n