mentorship: breaking the mould. exploring alternative models

Mentorship. Breaking the mould. An exploration into alternative methods of mentoring

Traditional models

“The mentor is ordinarily several years older, a person of greater experience and seniority...

a teacher, adviser or sponsor”

‒Levinson 1978

What if you couldn’t find your mentor?

My story

So far.

http://tiny.cc/mentorsearch  

Not alone.

The women who I do think do this tend to be self-employed where they are forging their own networks and are the face of their business. And maybe that’s it – the women who are in-touch with themselves enough to be strong women who throw down at work – they stop and say

“Why am I throwin’ down for the man when I can be doing it for myself?”

“Do we have to manipulate our own behaviour to pander to the perceptions of others in order to be

successful?”

ellison!

Can we still be women, feminine and strong? Are the two concepts compatible? Can we be ourselves and still be successful? Do we have to be one person in the office and one person at home? How are we supposed to manage all of these expectations? It often feels like whichever approach we take it is the wrong one, there are always a lot of ‘shoulds’ being thrown around.

“It would be great if we could support each other & celebrate wins instead of passing judgement…”

“I’ve almost mimicked what I’ve seen male colleagues do.”

Anon.

“I have a feeling we’re the generation that needs to work to define that.”

Are we looking in all the wrong places?

“If I want to lead and have to make decisions, I have to be tough sometimes, no matter if I am a woman or a man.”

@nachrichtenlos

“A good way...was building and maintaining a network that could give me honest feedback on the way I acted.”

@nachrichtenlos

Ideal mentor

Ideal mentor

Female"  

Leadership"  

Environment"  

A developmental network perspective

Monica C Higgins (Harvard University) & Kathy Kram (Boston University)

Relationship constellations Kathy Kram (Boston University)

Ideal mentor s

Developmental networks""

by Kathy Kram and Monica Higgins

Receptive""

Opportunistic"

Traditional "

Entrepreneurial "

Multiple social systems Kathy Kram (Boston University)

Beyond cross pollination of networks

…no order hierarchies

“A Mentor may be the dumbest idea that ever came down the pipe”

Jack Welch:  

“Everyone is a teacher” ‒Jack Welch Former CEO of GE

Female"  

Leadership"  

Environment"  

Amber Rae  

The start of new models of mentorship…

Look at what’s around you. Then look at what’s over the horizon.

Thank you!

@bryonycole

This is Mindful Conference 21 May 2011

Melbourne, Australia