If you been around the business world at all, you have probably heard the concept of a mentor. To put it simply, a mentor is someone you can learn something from. They might be someone who is a year ahead of you in their career or someone who is 20 years ahead of you. They don’t even have to be in the same industry as you. Lessons in business can often go across industries so don’t limit your choices. My mentors have changed my life and my career and I’m only a few years in!
When I got my first job, I was over the moon. I set out to learn everything I could and start making a difference as soon as possible. When I started looking around at my immediate leadership team, I quickly noticed 1 major thing was missing:
Women.
In technology, we all know there is a consistent lack of women and in my circumstance there was 0 between my immediate manager and the CEO.
This was a problem.
I wanted to connect with a few women in my company that I could look up to. Luckily, my manager, at the time, was incredible helpful. He completely understood what I was looking for. He recommended 4 exception women. I quickly built professional relationships with each of them. All very unique and important in their own ways.
Years later, I continue to chat with each of them on a monthly basis. What I love about having 4 unique successful women in my corner are the different perspectives they give me. They each have their own careers and experiences to pull from.
First, I’ll tell you about my mentors:
- The first mentor I ever had was Amy*. Amy was a career woman through and through. She is the head of cloud technology at our company. Successful doesn’t seem to do her justice. She is always encouraging me to go back to school and to get my MBA. She says even in the technology world and MBA will open doors for me. Amy just finished her MBA online and she says to not make the same mistake as her. Don’t wait! It’s never too late to go back to school, but going earlier can only help. She also has an adorable dog and we often bond over being dog moms.
- Next, I met Rachel* she runs the technology sector of one of our business units. She is a walking beam of light. Stylish, polished, and incredibly smart. She was the breadwinner in her family. She has two kids, but her husband stayed home to take care of them while she worked. I always joke with my husband that she is who I want to be when I grow up not because of what she does, but because of everything she has accomplished in her career as well as in her personal life. I relate the most to her on a personal level.
- Next, I met Nancy*. Looking back on it, she was an obvious choice. While hunting for female mentors outside my immediate leadership, she received a promotion within my business unit. She became a vice president! The youngest vice president by far and the only woman. If that doesn’t scream glass ceiling shatterer I don’t know what does. Nancy is originally from Ireland. We bonded over a love for Rugby. Fierce doesn’t even to begin to describe her plus gives the best book recommendations.
She explained the best leadership advice she ever received was from the books she read. She has encouraged me to read every leadership book I can get my hands on. You might think why? You aren’t a manager yet? And that’s exactly the point. You should be educating yourself on your next step before you get there. You shouldn’t wait until you are a leader to start learning how to become a good one!
Keep in mind: Just because someone around you has a title of a manager or VP or whatever leadership title you can think of doesn’t make them a good leader. There is no excuse in this day and age for not learning something new every day. There is information literally at your fingertips in the form of books, videos, and podcasts.
- Last, but not least, I met Whitney*. She gave me insight from a business perspective. She started in analytics because of her love for math. Throughout her career, she was drawn more and more to business relationships. Her love and success at analytics only made her more thorough when it came to business which ultimately made her more successful. She is always encouraging me to push myself. Ask my manager for more work. Ask my manager for different work especially work out of my comfort zone. You never know what kind of work you will fall in love with or be really good at! Don’t limit yourself because it’s something you haven’t done before. On the opposite side embrace the opportunity because it is something you haven’t done before!
These 4 women are my friends, my support system, my advocates, and my mentors. 6 months ago I got the opportunity to speak on a panel with the CEO of our company. The company chose 3 associate to engage in a candid conversation with members of our senior leadership. The topics included company culture, diversity, and employee satisfaction. I am talking like the CEO and heads of our business units. These were some of the most powerful people in the company. All associates were encouraged to apply. I threw my name into the hat because why not? Turns out I was selected! I had the pleasure of mingling and conversating with people who truly made a difference every day in the company I worked for.
Later, when my mentors found out I got chosen for this opportunity, they all offered support in their own ways. Amy volunteered to stay with me after work and walk through each senior leader. We proceeded to talk about what their portfolio looked like so I would have educated questions to ask them. The others talked through my questions and answers with me. They taught me how to talk at a high level that senior leaders would understand. Walking into that opportunity I felt prepared and ready. The experience was one of a kind. I will never forget the opportunity, but what became even more apparent was the strong support system I built with these ladies. I had built a priceless network that can only grow from here.
Fast forward a couple weeks later there was a job posting on our internal job board. There was a position open to create visuals and digital reporting for the executive team. The opportunity intrigued me. It was similar work to what I was doing now, but on a broad scale and a higher level. The position was a little more advanced then what I was technically qualified for, but with my support system of badass ladies, I felt as though anything was possible. I reached out to them individually and told them about the opportunity. They each gave me interviewing advice. They had been on the hiring side of those conversations countless times.
Once I received the official offer, I asked them all about how to know your worth. How do you put a price tag on what you can bring to the table? They all had great, unique insights.
5 months later, here I am in my new job. A job that was looking for someone with more experience, but yet took a chance on me. I fully believe that your career is about what you know, until it’s suddenly about who you know. My network helped me get to this point and it’s only been 2 years. Imagine what it’ll do for me in 5, 10, or even 15 years. Imagine how big my network will be by then?
Finally, the most common question I get when I tell this story is “Well how will I know if someone is willing to help me?”. 9 times out of 10 people are happy to help you! Just think of someone who is going through something you went through. Like if you are in college would you be willing to mentor a high schooler looking to do something similar? If you are in your first job would you help someone in college looking to get started in a similar position? Most people would say yes! Most people love to help the person right behind them.
All of my mentors are vice presidents or senior vice presidents and they all find 30 minutes a month to chat with me. I promise you can find someone who will do the same for you! Being asked to be a mentor is extremely flattering. It means you look up to them or seek a skill they have. People are usually touched to be asked.
Now it’s your turn! Find yourself a mentor or maybe 4. You have nothing to lose. It can only help! What the best piece of advice you received a mentor (official or not)?
*Real names were changed to respect privacy.
