HR Pulse

Mentorship a strategic tool in a young woman's workplace survival guide

The fight for meaningful representation and leadership roles for women is an ongoing phenomenon that has been an uncomfortable topic of discussion in many board rooms worldwide.

Fortune 500 companies General Motors, Hewlett-Packard and IBM have given their vote of confidence to women and placed them in their organisations’ number one roles. As a woman, one is always drawn to wonder what the survival guide of these powerful women consists of.

South Africa’s reigning Top Employer, Unilever, has 40% female representation at senior management level. According to Unilever South Africa CEO, Peter Cowan, any company that is able to harness the power of women in leadership positions has a competitive edge. “At Unilever we passionately believe in the power of women leadership and are completely committed to establishing successful women leaders,” he says.

As companies continue to evolve in the diversity and inclusion agenda, it is also important that women also change their mindset and perception of themselves. The one career development construct that has extensive and beneficial consequences, is mentorship. Even the most successful leaders have mentors because for one to excel in one’s area of expertise, one needs to align oneself with those who have walked the path before and are more experienced. There is always that one person even in the lives of the most successful. That way as a mentee, you can circumvent potential oversights in your own career path.

Its human nature to gravitate and have admiration for someone who has attributes that one can identify with, such as age, race, social background and gender. More than ever before, corporates are now experiencing the emergence of an exceptional breed of female role models. A role model is like a template that can be used to facilitate the transformation of young women’s attitudes towards achieving what is seemingly impossible. A few decades back, young girls did not have that many female role models in business and thus visualising the possibility of being a leader of any organisation seemed impossible; there was no visual representation in that area.

The mentorship of young women should be used as a tool to emotionally and physically prepare them for the perceived boys club. Through mentorship, experienced women will share great insights with their female mentees and bust a lot of myths that have the potential to hold them back.

It is therefore vital that initiatives like the VWV Phakama Women’s Academy are encouraged for the benefit of young girls who are genuinely seeking ways to make an impact in the world of business. The academy recently launched its 2015 mentorship programme and revealed this year’s cohort comprising phenomenally dynamic women. Through such programmes, young women can eliminate the mental captivity that stands between them and their career breakthrough.

At the launch, the young Phakama students - hungry for knowledge and being equipped with the right skills to ready themselves for their bright future - boldly began seeking insights and calling on conventional wisdom to get ahead in their careers. This as you would expect, challenged the mentors in terms of what advice could be delivered, but there are some very simple yet crucial business acumen principles that mentors must share with mentees during their mentorship journey.

Prove your Value

Firstly seeking equal opportunities in the workplace as a young woman requires proving your worth. There is nothing as demotivating as being perceived as a token employee in the workplace. Hard work and not just your talent, is key. In Tim Notke’s words “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” It’s for this reason that average or standard performance is not good enough because that will not distinguish average and ordinary from exceptional. It means pushing boundaries and delivering beyond expectation.

Set Your Sights on Self-Branding

Understanding Self-Branding is yet another fundamental aspect in a young women’s career. This involves promoting her professional-image and establishing a quality network with the aim of differentiating herself from her peers. Through mentorship, a mentee will learn to do this with humility and yet be impactful. Self-branding has a lot to do with her ethics and integrity in the industry she is in. Remember: It takes years to build a good reputation, but just a few seconds to destroy it.

Balance: Compromise and Control

Another point of anxiety for any ambitious young woman is how to still make it in the corporate world and balance the ladder climbing with a healthy social life. Career driven young women still seek to find love, get married and have a family. Mentors can give practical guides by making an example of their own lives and demonstrating how they have managed to strike a balance in their respective lives. While there is no set formula on how to do this, insight to an authentic example will assist a mentee in coming up with her own approach to finding her balance.

Authenticity Seals the Deal

Lastly, authenticity is crucial. It’s not necessary to sell your soul to reach the top; be yourself. To become a great leader one does not have to exhibit masculine macho tendencies. After all, to be successful, organisations require a balance between X-chromosome and Y-chromosome capabilities. Female leaders who have walked the path before will advise that pretending to be who you are not is not sustainable. It is an energy-sapper and emotionally draining.

As a 2015 Phakama Women’s Academy mentor, it’s important to open up to my appointed mentee – a PR and Corporate Communications student from the University of Johannesburg. This way she can start to prepare her survival guide as a future leader, taking the good and eliminating the negative from my personal journey. However, what remains profound for me is the fact that I am also set to learn from her. As new trends emerge, what better person to help me catch up - than a young, ambitious and curious woman.

Meeting the Phakama 2015 mentees was indeed a great privilege.