One of My Favorites

Based on research with successful women, Sally Helgesen brings to life the extraordinary talents of women. I had one regret about reading this book… I wish I had written it. Helgesen puts into print the promise women are capable of delivering. I have both seen and experienced it. Hear the power of your own voice in these pages. Then use it to be the change you seek to create and the one that’s sorely needed.

A Steal

Grab it. Margaret Heffernan illustrates, by way of female entrepreneurs and the companies they build, what Helgeson identifies about women’s vision. The enterprises in Heffernan’s book are led with women’s talents and values. Read how empathy leads to great product designs and raving fans who become word of mouth reps for companies such as Pampered Chef. Need better work-life-fit? In several of these woman led companies, children are a welcome sight in the workplace.

Women in Academia and Elsewhere

What do women in academia endure and what archetypes are involved?
In one of my favorite passages Rushing reports a conversation with her husband. Both are professors. Each describes their respective great day in the classroom. He is standing at the front of the room giving one of his best lectures ever. Students sit facing him, listening with rapt attention to his every word. She arranges the chairs in a circle so students can engage in conversation with each other, discovering and learning together. Ideas fly and the energy is palpable. She is one of many teachers in the room this day.

Sadly, Janice Hocker Rushing died of cancer before this book was published. The forward by her sister is worth more than the cost and the time it takes to read Erotic Mentoring. You will be moved.

Check back for updates to Good Reads.

Note: As an Amazon Associate Germane Consulting receives an itsy bitsy number of pennies, sometimes dimes or on a rare occasion quarters from the sale of each book when you click and buy from this site.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Good Reads By About and For Professional Women is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Mentor – Greek mythological figure, tutor to Telemachus. Faithful and wise advisor.

Athena, goddess of wisdom, assumed Mentor’s form to advise Telemachus. She warned him about the future then sent him on a journey that taught him how to win it.

Mentor to the Famous

Maya Angelou - Mentor

Maya Angelou

As a child Maya Angelou had a stark realization about the power of words. She had testified in open court against a local man who abused her. He was found guilty then later shot and killed himself. Following his death, the young Ms. Angelou remained mute for six years.

Enter Ms. Flowers who accepted Maya’s silence and at the same time saw that she loved the very thing she feared. Ms. Flowers introduced Maya to books and assigned her to read every volume in the library. Ms. Flowers also read aloud to young Maya who fell in love with poetry. In this love Ms. Flowers found a door and opened it. She told Maya to truly know a poem one must hear it in one’s own voice. And the rest as they say – is history.

Mentor – one who sees the child’s gifts then guides her on the journey to teach her how to use them.

As an adult Ms. Angelou became a mentor to Oprah Winfrey.

What the Mentor Sees

The mentor sees the acorn and envisions the tree. She sees into the heart and mind and nurtures what may not be visible even to the mentee.

What the Mentor Does

Like Glynda, the good witch who guides Dorothy along the yellow brick road, the mentor offers encouragement and instruction as the mentee meets a challenge that builds her strengths. The mentor may point out the road sign where the journey begins, reveal a hidden secret or warn of what is to come.

How the Mentor Is

The mentor cares that the acorn grows into the tree it is meant to be. She is nurturing or tough and everything in between as needed. As she chooses what is called for, it is always with the best interest of the mentee in mind. She asks for nothing in return except to be watch the acorn become the tree.

Finding a Mentor

While one or the other initiates, ultimately they find each other and in so doing find parts of themselves.

Mary Jo Asmus provides useful tips for mentors.Click here to read more.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Mentor – What She Sees, What She Does, How She Is is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology

Mentoring is among the most effective approaches to professional development and career advancement.

Ask most senior managers and executives what helped them get where they are, and they will probably include a significant mentor.  When new clients talk about the important influences in their lives, they usually include a mentor.  One VP of sales mentioned how his mentor helped him through the unexpected death of his father. 

Women who have male mentors, however, often do not gain the same benefits from these relationships as do their male colleagues.  These findings are reported consistently in a survey[1] that companies use to identify obstacles for women in attaining senior leadership roles.  The assumption that certain topics are not discuss-able or should not have to be discussed is a major impediment to the success of the male mentor female mentee relationship.  First among these topics is whether and how the mentor will open doors to his network.  This happens quite naturally between male-male and female-female mentoring pairs.  It includes an invitation to play golf, attend a sports event, have lunch or a meet after work for a drink.  Such invitations may seem awkward or even forbidden when the mentoring relationship includes parties of the opposite sex.  What to do?

First – Have a conversation about roles, wishes and expectations.  Talk about what you would like to gain from the relationship, what role you would like the mentor to play, what you want to learn, when and how you will give each other feedback about the relationship.  I failed to talk with a mentor recently about my desire to have the relationship itself as a venue for learning.  When there was a mis-step in the relationship we had no agreement that we would talk about it or how.  Sadly we never talked about what happened and the relationship ended soon thereafter.

Talk specifically about the role of the mentor as a sponsor and advocate if that’s what you’re hoping for.  Will he help you gain access to important informal networks?  If so, how?   Will you have lunch or attend a sports event in order to be introduced to people in his network?  If that seems awkward what alternatives will achieve the same goals? What seems okay? What doesn’t?  How will you talk about potentially awkward situations?  Recently I had a client meeting scheduled prior to another meeting he was attending at a hotel.  Being a gentleman, he felt it was inappropriate to have a professional meeting with a woman in a hotel lobby or bar, so we chose a nearby coffee shop instead.

Second – Reciprocate. Your mentor is benefiting from the relationship as well. What would he like to learn or gain? How can you help?

Third – Help your mentor help you. Tell him how you learn and what you need. One of the major differences between the way men and women give and receive help centers around listening versus advising and fixing.  Women often want someone to listen.  The act of sharing the story in a relationship helps her see new and different perspectives.  This in turn opens the door to new solutions.  Men may lean more toward wanting and giving advice or lending a hand.  If you know in general or in a particular instance that you need a sounding board, say so.  If you want advice, say so.

One of my favorite female mentor role models is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  She listens empathetically to the desires of the lion, the tin man and the scarecrow and invites each to join her as she too looks for a solution to her problem.  Along the way she encourages each companion to confront a situation that requires him to use the quality he searches for, and in the process he discovers he’s had it within him all along.  In the end Dorothy also discovers that she has been in possession of the solution she thought only the grand wizard of Oz could provide.

[1] Obstacles and Levers for Women: An organization Assessment.

©2012 Germane Insights. All Rights Reserved.

Getting the Most from Men-toring is an original post from Anne Perschel on Germane Insights - Achieving Leadership Excellence through the Art and Science of Psychology