27 How to Create Mentoring that Works Both Ways

Back in the 1970s, feminists seized on mentoring as a way to help women ease their way through the men’s club atmosphere then dominating so many American offices. Through the years, the idea has become mainstream and now there’s a widespread understanding that having supportive mentors helps both women and men to advance professionally. But the definition of “mentor” varies widely, and not all career-focused mentoring programs succeed.

What makes structured programs and individual efforts so difficult to get right is that mentoring involves building a relationship between two people. And strong human relationships require a delicate mix of hard work, honest communication, and good luck.

As with ...

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