WOMAN TO WOMAN I am a lawyer by profession and I am also a licensed HR practitioner. Last year I made a huge decision I decided to move back to Zambia to pursue my law career. I have had countless challenges. Too many to mention but one of them has been finding a mentor. In the few months I have been here I have noticed that there are a lot of women in the legal profession in Zambia. However it has been really hard for me to connect with someone who can mentor me in this career. This is why there arent a lot of women in influential positions generally. And when you hear that Mrs so so is the legal counsel for airtel or you hear Mrs so so is the head of HR at bank ABC you are surprised. Thats terrible. It shouldnt be a surprise that a woman can make it that far. Because we can. I can and so can you! Let me explain why mentoring is an important tool for talent development and what exactly is meant by mentorship (Speaking as a HR practitioner here). Mentorship is a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. And in my case less experienced because I have the knowledge I just lack experience. However, I believe that true mentoring is more than just answering occasional questions or providing ad hoc help. It is about an ongoing relationship of learning, dialogue, and challenge. Challenge! Developing the ability to transfer knowledge into practical ability. A persons work performance must improve as a result of the mentorship. Im not sure about Zambian HRD but in the UK some supervisors and managers can act as mentors for their subordinates depending on the structure of the organisation. Hopefully you now understand what I mean. It is important that women start grooming fellow women. I personally dont want to be mentored by a man in my career. Other areas like personal development then yes. Heres why: I am not a man! He maybe successful and experienced but I want to be mentored by someone who understands my journey and the challenges I will face in building my career. One day I will get married, have a baby etc. How do I succeed, how do I balance, how do I manoeuvre, how do I stay hungry, how do I develop, how do I juggle these responsibilities while delivering! A mentor brings focus. Helps you strategically plan your career path and recognise areas of development! We hurt ourselves as women when we compete with one another. A mature more experienced woman shouldnt feel threatened by a young upcoming professional like me. Yes I have the qualifications but I still need to learn a whole lots of things! My journey would be easier if I can learn from someone who has walked my path and overcome! We need more mature professional women who are willing to pass on their knowledge and experience to the younger generation. To pass on the button to young professional women who are hungry, focused and driven in their careers. Young professionals who need direction. And a little encouragement. My success as a woman is your success my fellow woman. I am looking forward to see more career mentoring programmes here in Zambia. A new breed of women who are not threatened by the success of a fellow woman. We need more women running organisations, companies, firms, mines, countries etc! More than that I hope there are young professional women who are willing to sit under a mentor and tap into their wisdom and experience. Hope this will inspire someone out there to do something extraordinary!
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 08:20:53 +0000
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