{"id":688,"date":"2012-04-20T16:12:05","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T16:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=688"},"modified":"2012-04-29T21:17:55","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T21:17:55","slug":"boomer-women-flunk-mentoring-new-linkedin-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=688","title":{"rendered":"BOOMER WOMEN FLUNK MENTORING: NEW LINKEDIN SURVEY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/secondverse-logo.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?attachment_id=4\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/secondverse-logo.jpg?fit=366%2C102&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"366,102\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"secondverse-logo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/secondverse-logo.jpg?fit=366%2C102&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4\" title=\"secondverse-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/secondverse-logo.jpg?resize=366%2C102&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"366\" height=\"102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/secondverse-logo.jpg?w=366&amp;ssl=1 366w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/secondverse-logo.jpg?resize=300%2C83&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2011\/10\/25\/boomer-women-flunk-mentoring-new-linkedin-survey\/\">\u00a0Read published article<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"leftRail\">\n<div id=\"attachment_2939\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/kerryhannon\/files\/2011\/10\/2image.jpeg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin: 15px;\" title=\"Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/kerryhannon\/files\/2011\/10\/2image.jpeg?resize=102%2C102&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"102\" height=\"102\" \/><\/a>We\u2019re mentoring misfits.<\/div>\n<p>LinkedIn surveyed nearly 1,000 female professionals in the U.S. and found that most American women feel that it\u2019s important to have a mentor.<\/p>\n<p>I do. I\u2019m always harping on the need to find a mentor to help make career transitions\u2013especially if you\u2019re changing fields to start a second career. But most boomer women don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>About\u00a0<strong>two-thirds of boomer women\u2013between 45-66 years old\u2013say that they are not being or have not been mentored by women<\/strong>, according to LinkedIn\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/press.linkedin.com\/node\/951\">study<\/a>\u00a0released today.<\/p>\n<aside data-position=\"6\">\n<div>\u00a0Younger female professionals are having more success finding female mentors than their predecessors.\u00a0<strong>More than half of the Gen Y women\u2013between 18-29 years old\u2013say they\u2019re being or have been mentored by women.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>LinkedIn asked the women who hadn\u2019t had a mentor why that was the case.\u00a0<strong>More than half of the women say they hadn\u2019t had a mentor because they had, \u201cnever encountered someone appropriate.\u201d<!--more--><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Fewer mentors.\u00a0<\/strong>I think there is a good explanation for why boomer women are mentor-less. When we were getting rolling in the work world, there weren\u2019t as many women in senior slots to look up to, or ask for guidance.<\/p>\n<p>And those who were there could be pretty guarded about supporting other women. They were very protective of their much fought for status. Heels high, nails sharp.<\/p>\n<p>When I began my career, I was eager to find a woman I admired, who would go to bat for me, help me up the ladder, teach me, even help me figure how to dress appropriately, for gosh sakes. I loved the \u201ccasual blue jeans and suede cowboy boots look.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Financial journalism was still a male-dominated cadre at the top of the masthead. Male editors were more willing to offer advice, but that could be tricky. Office politics generally don\u2019t cotton to an older man mentoring a younger woman, no matter how well-intentioned.<\/p>\n<p>The first time I reached out to establish what I thought was a female mentoring relationship at work, I was singed. Here\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n<p><strong>My mentor slap-down story.<\/strong>\u00a0I was a young reporter at Forbes back in the mid-80s and assigned to do the legwork for a well-known female columnist\u2019s column.<\/p>\n<p>It was an honor. I loved tackling the reporting assignments for her column, interviewing the people, and writing up my findings. She would use my material for her column, which appeared every two weeks. I was learning so much and reveled in watching her use her smarts, and wild blonde hair to wield her coveted real estate at the magazine. I wanted to be like her when I grew up, I suppose.<\/p>\n<p>One day, she had a cover story for the magazine, or I should say, we did. I reported a huge chunk of it, flying around the country to interview top academics in California and so forth. It was heady stuff.<\/p>\n<p>When the day came for it to go to press, the copy desk editor, showed me the advance pages and wow, the columnist had given me a co-byline on the story. I was walking on air\u2013my name on a cover story for Forbes.<\/p>\n<p>I raced out to buy flowers for her and took them to her office to say thanks. She snapped\u201d \u201cWhat are these for?\u201d When I told her, she said, \u201cYou are\u00a0<em>not\u00a0<\/em>getting a byline. It\u2019s my cover.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And that was that.<\/p>\n<p>I never worked for her again. Since then I have found a few women, who have given me advice, support, and plenty who gave me great assignments and continue to do so. But I have never let myself be vulnerable and trusting like I was in my early days. I learned to observe and work hard, and I have never asked anyone to be my \u201cmentor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Look outside the office.\u00a0<\/strong>Mentoring doesn\u2019t have to be a \u201cbusiness\u201d relationship. You can find mentors outside the workplace from associations you belong to, activities you\u2019re involved in, neighbors, and yep, relatives. I call my older sister for guidance. This works for me. She\u2019s smart, successful, and a good listener with clear advice and no hidden agenda.<\/p>\n<p>For most women, it\u2019s awkward to ask not only for help and advice, but to go out on a limb and say will you be my mentor?\u00a0<strong>In fact, 67 percent of the women LinkedIn surveyed said they had never mentored another professional because, \u201cno one had ever asked.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The good news is reportedly many big corporations\u2013<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/finapps.forbes.com\/finapps\/jsp\/finance\/compinfo\/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=gis&amp;tab=searchtabquotesdark\" target=\"_blank\">General Mills<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/finapps.forbes.com\/finapps\/jsp\/finance\/compinfo\/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=intc&amp;tab=searchtabquotesdark\" target=\"_blank\">Intel<\/a>\u00a0Corp, Ernst &amp; Young, Proctor &amp; Gamble, for example, have created mentoring programs for their employees. Some outfits have programs designed for women to help to gain greater access to senior management positions.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re not privy to one of these formal programs, here are some steps to build a mentor relationship.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Start by asking for advice<\/strong>. Giving advice is something we all like to do. One of my favorite career coaches, Beverly Jones of Clearways Consulting in Washington, DC, has this tip: \u201cYou might approach a senior colleague and say, \u201cI want to get better at X, and I notice that you are great at X, so I wonder if you could give me advice about this X type challenge?\u201d I would add to this that, depending on your situation, you might find yourself asking someone younger than you for advice, particularly when it comes to technology-related areas, even social media.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s in it for them?<\/strong>\u00a0You need to show your appreciation. \u201cCan you, the mentee, make the relationship more reciprocal by serving as a source of information and support for your mentor in some way?\u201d Jones asks. It\u2019s the proverbial two-way street.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be a mentor.<\/strong>\u00a0This will give you a better idea of how to work with a mentor yourself. Even if you are at the bottom of your hierarchy at work, you can find mentees through alumni and non-profit networks, Jones says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Skip the flowers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For more on the LinkedIn survey, click\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lnkd.in\/mentoring-women\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>For more advice from career coach Beverly Jones, click<a href=\"http:\/\/www.clearwaysconsulting.com\/ezine-archive\/2011\/ezine_8_2_11.htm\">\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\" BOOMER WOMEN FLUNK MENTORING: NEW LINKEDIN SURVEY\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Read published article &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; We\u2019re mentoring misfits. LinkedIn surveyed nearly 1,000 female professionals in the U.S. and found that most American women feel that it\u2019s important to have a mentor. I do. I\u2019m always harping on the need to find a mentor to help make career transitions\u2013especially if you\u2019re changing fields to start [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\" BOOMER WOMEN FLUNK MENTORING: NEW LINKEDIN SURVEY\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,54,6],"tags":[332,340,331],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boomers","category-mentoring","category-second-verse-blog-on-forbes-com","tag-boomers","tag-finances","tag-second-verse-blog-on-forbes-com"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YFQS-b6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=688"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions\/871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}