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Finding a mentor is not easy. Here is an insightful post about finding your reciprocal mentor and creating an arrangement for success!
Rania Anderson
Build Your Support! Why? Successful women have the right networks, mentors and sponsor. But we regularly hear from women (especially in developing and emerging markets) who report not having mentors or knowing where to start to get the right support. We’re here to help you do just that.
On my path to professional success, I have greatly benefited from a couple of key reciprocal mentoring relationships, and you can too.
In Reciprocal Mentoring, two people with similar levels of achievement and ambition (but with complementary skill sets or networks) agree to regularly co-mentor each other. The co-mentoring relationship can be established within an organization or without an organizational affiliation; the co-mentoring relationship can be among two people from the same or different industries, and with someone of the same or opposite gender.
Co-mentoring is not the same as occasionally – or even regularly – meeting a friend for coffee or lunch and talking about work.
Darcy Howe, a highly successful wealth management advisor, is one of my reciprocal mentors. While we of course have some notable differences, Darcy and I share some key professional and personal similarities, including a history in financial services and working at a large corporation as the foundation to each of our professional experiences. We are approximately the same age and have young adult children. But most importantly, we are in at a similar career stage.
Each of us has enjoyed very successful career progression and has now embarked on pursuing new uncharted and challenging professional objectives. While our objectives are very different, we are both pioneering new territory (for me, it is with The Way Women Work, for Darcy it is serving on a major corporate board).
Although neither of us has achieved what the other is embarking upon, our individual and combined experiences, networks, and skills serve to help the other think differently about our goals. Most importantly, we have great admiration for each other and are not afraid to be direct in our feedback and hold each other accountable to what we commit to do. As an added bonus, we conduct our regular co-mentoring sessions during brisk walks, getting fresh air and exercise while we support each other to further success.
Don’t make the mistake that many women make by undervaluing the positive impact that reciprocal/peer/co-mentoring can have on your career or business.
Don’t make the mistake that many women make by undervaluing the positive impact that reciprocal/peer/co-mentoring can have on your career or business. Don’t believe that relevant mentoring comes only from a more senior or more experienced leader. Just as has been shown with reverse mentoring (wherein a more senior leader is paired with a younger employee) reciprocal mentoring can be extremely beneficial on your path to success in your career or business!
Would having a reciprocal or co-mentoring relationship help your career or business? What are you waiting for? Ask the person you believe can help you today!
This article was first published at The Way Women Work
Rania Anderson is Founder & President of The Way Women Work. She is a global speaker, Executive coach, angel investor and former corporate leader, as well as a forthcoming author.
Pic credit: Valeribb (Used under a CC license)
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Darlings makes some excellent points about domestic violence . For such a movie to not follow through with a resolution that won't be problematic, is disappointing.
I watched Darlings last weekend, staying on top of its release on Netflix. It was a long-awaited respite from the recent flicks. I wanted badly to jump into its praise and will praise it, for something has to be said for the powerhouse performances it is packed with. But I will not be able to in a way that I really had wanted to.
I wanted to say that this is a must-watch on domestic violence that I stand behind and a needed and nuanced social portrayal. But unfortunately, I can’t. For I found Darlings to be deeply problematic when it comes to the portrayal of domestic violence and how that should be dealt with.
Before we rush to the ‘you must be having a problem because a man was hit’ or ‘much worse happens to women’ conclusions, that is not what my issue is. I have seen the praises and criticisms, and the criticisms of criticisms. I know, from having had close associations with non-profits and activists who fight domestic violence not just in India but globally, that much worse happens to women. I have written a book with case studies and statistics on that. Neither do I have any moral qualms around violence getting tackled with violence (that will be another post some day).
Gender stereotypes, though a by-product of the patriarchal society that we have always lived in, are now so intricately woven into our conditioning that despite our progressive thinking, we are unable to break free from them.
Repeatedly crossing, while on my morning walk ̶ a sticky, vine-coloured patch on the walkway, painted by jamuns that have fallen from the jamun tree, crushed by the impact of their fall, and perhaps, inadvertently trampled upon by walkers, awakens memories of the mulberry tree that stood in my parents’ house when I was growing up. Right at the entrance of the house, the tree caused a similar red and violet chaos on the floor, which greeted us each time we entered the gate.
Today, as I walked by this red-violet patch, I was reminded of an incident that my mother had narrated to me several times. It had taken place shortly after her marriage and her arrival in this house from her hometown.