π° Mentor or Bust: How to Survive Corporate America
Would you paddle into rapids without a river guide? Or go on a first date without outfit approval from 1-10 friends? So why would you try to navigate Corporate America without a mentor?
Land the perfect mentor with Ask Your Work Wife, a podcast for ambitious women who want more out of Corporate America. New episodes drop Wednesdays on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
In today's email:
Read: mentor is the move π
Listen: the do's and don'ts of mentorship
Join the convo: new job red flags π©
Get more out of Corporate America: a course for ambitious professionals
READ
Mentor Is the Move
You can't do this life alone, and you sure as shit can't do Corporate America alone. Learn how to spot a good mentor and why choosing the right one is the ultimate form of self-care.
π§ On the go? Listen to Episode 12 | A Word on Mentors on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
HOLLAND: "Would you be where you are without mentors?"
VANESSA: *almost speechless* "Absolutely not."
HOLLAND: *speechless because Vanessa is never speechless*
What maketh a good mentor?
As Vanessa likes to say, a good mentor is someone you trust to help you navigate your career.
They should be...
Above you in the hierarchy.
Outside your chain of command.
Not someone you have to impress.
Not someone who can hire or fire you.
A third-party player. Someone with distance from your role while still knowing what the hell is going on.
A great sounding board who you can dish to without sending ripples through your 9 to 5.
Itβs also helpful to have a mentor outside your organization, but not necessary. (Note: external mentors are more of a big-picture coach.)
Am I only allowed one?
Nope! It's not an ole' work wife's tale; you can definitely have more than one mentor. So if you're in a male-dominated field, maybe you have a male mentor in your organization, and then perhaps you have a woman outside your team who mentors you on a macro level.
How to Get a Mentor
Organize informational interviews with everybody, learn how their job functions in relation to yours, and how you can best help them.
Through those meetings, you'll dial in on their personalities and find ones that match yours (itβs a bit like dating, tbh).
Put these matches on the fast track to becoming a mentor by finding excuses to meet with them more regularly.
Make the ask!
Asking them can be vulnerable! But remember, you're telling them you admire them, and people love compliments. You know what you want and what a good relationship feels like. When you find that good in someone, go for it. They're going to feel the chills when it comes from an authentic, empowered place, and they're going to be motivated to accept.
LISTEN
The Doβs & Don'ts of Mentorship
JOIN THE CONVO
GET WHAT YOU WANT
Get more out of Corporate America
In the Work Wives' first-ever course, Vanessa & Holland introduce an entirely new way to think about Corporate America and give you step-by-step instructions on how to focus your energy to get what you actually want.
YOU ASK, WE ANSWER
Got a question for Ask Your Work Wife?
Record your question and email us the recording. Include your name, your city if you want, and whatever context might be helpful for us to know. And donβt forget to start with βHey, Work Wives!β
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