Babes On Bay Street

Archive for 'advice' Category

Establishing a Mentorship Program. Part 1

I asked Nancy to tell me about her involvement with mentoring. She said: “It goes back to my strong, passionate belief that we don’t have enough women in business, especially in commercial real estate. I have a legal background, so I’ve read a lot of articles about the percentage of women that drop out of law.  The common theme in most of those articles is that women drop out because they don’t have any mentors.  They have nobody to look up to, to talk to, to tell them that there’s light at the end of the tunnel and that if they stick it through they can have a fulfilling career.”   She continued: “I’ve been involved for years with an organization called ...

Sponsors and Sponsorship

There have been a number of articles in the press recently about the benefits of women having sponsors in terms of their advancement to senior executive positions within their corporations. In case you missed them, I have attached the link to one such article from the Financial Post  http://business.financialpost.com/2011/11/30/key-to-women-entering-the-c-suite-may-just-be-a-hero/   The article and the research and our own experience tells us sponsors are different from mentors.  The referenced article outlines the difference very well. "Unlike mentors, who offer career coaching and advice, sponsors are vocal and influential advocates. Defined by their organizational clout and ability to open doors, they personally lobby for a project or promotion on a proteges behalf. For women, such sponsorship can boost the likelihood of stretch assignments, pay ...