On October 3, I participated in Women Who ROC: Voices of Our Leaders, a kick-off event for the Women’s Network, with President Sarah Mangelsdorf and five other women who serve as deans at the University of Rochester: Gloria Culver (School of Arts and Sciences), Wendi Heinzelman (Hajim School of Engineering), Sarah Peyre (Warner School of Education), Kathy Rideout (School of Nursing), and Sevin Yeltekin (Simon Business School). Together, we shared our experiences as women in a senior leadership position.
Our discussion touched on a number of topics that included work–life balance; how taking on more responsibility meant leaving our comfort zones; and the importance of knowing our professional limits and the dangers of over-extending ourselves. I have experience in all of these areas, and know that I am a better leader because I have the trust and support of these women and others.
Many of us have people in our professional lives who have provided support, advice, and asked good questions that led us to critical insights and decisions. Fewer of us have had a single person who has played a pivotal role in the trajectory of our careers. There may have been someone who saw something in us that we did not see, or someone who encouraged us to pursue an opportunity that we did not believe we were ready for. We call them mentors. My fellow panelists and I also discussed the value of having these people in our professional lives.
At one point in the webinar, I was asked to give advice to students and young alumni who are interested in working with a mentor. I’ll share some of what I said here.
Students and young alumni might be daunted by the idea of reaching out to an alumnus in search of mentorship. What they should know is many in the Rochester alumni community would be open—if not excited—to receive this contact. Many of our alumni want to remain meaningfully connected to their alma mater, and are eager to work with students and recent graduates. In fact, asking someone to be a mentor is almost doing them a favor. Mentoring is a mutually beneficial and goal-oriented relationship. I would go even further and call it a partnership. For the mentor it provides an opportunity to reflect on their career and the key moments and decisions that brought them to where they are. The mentee receives invaluable lessons on things like how to navigate organizational culture. The professional landscape is so complex and the pace of change so great that having a constellation of mentors throughout one’s career is almost essential.
I have been in a number of mentoring partnerships, and it has been an incredible gift. Knowing the value of these partnerships is why a book I coauthored with my mentoring partner (who was new to her career) is entitled Pay It Forward. However, before any of us can pay it forward, we must first acknowledge what we’ve received. To help us do that, I’m invoking the help of the late Fred Rogers, who, upon receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 Emmys, offered a timeless message.
