Each year, January is the month designated to celebrate mentoring. It’s a curious thing to have one month dedicated to mentoring. Every month is a good month for Mentoring! Perhaps the notion is to raise awareness for this special and influential form of developmental relationship. 

Over the last couple weeks I’ve seen a variety of days referred t...

^{Originally published 1/25/2011. Most recent update 1/22/2022}

Mentoring is the act of helping someone learn.

Mentoring is one type of supportive relationship in your overall developmental network: the group of people you turn to and rely on for input, advice and ideas to help you along the way. It is a relationship that you have with a person who ...

Stacy Eldridge worked in cybersecurity for the FBI for many years, scouring devices for evidence of criminal activity. The job was a great fit for a long time but it was an opportunity she hadn't considered pursuing until a moment of uncertainty shook her out of her comfort zone. 

You Just Need The Next Step 

 While working on her bachelor’s degr...

“The journey is going to be interesting, no matter what you do. There’s going to be ups and downs and it’s not going to go according to plan, but it is going to be your journey.”

Earlier this year, I attended the virtual 2021 Strike Up Conference celebrating women entrepreneurs who #choosetochallenge. Manjit Minhas was the keynote speaker. As s...

For some people, in-person networking is exciting, fulfilling and easy. For others, the word ‘networking’ evokes feelings of dread, anxiety or discomfort.

The fear seems to arise from having to disclose ourselves and concerns about how we might be perceived. Will we ‘do’ networking the ‘right’ way? If we are more introverted, spontaneous conversat...

Guest Post: by Zarmina Nekzai, President & Founder, Organization of Afghan Women & Youth

Her story of courage, healing and changing the future for women and girls in Afghanistan through education, entrepreneurship and hockey.

From the time I was young, I realized that women were treated differently in Afghanistan. Women weren’t allowed to go to...

We have a tendency to hold mentors in high regard. And rightfully so. A mentor’s perception, ideas, knowledge, feedback or nudge at just the right moment can feel magical. Unfortunately there isn’t a magic formula to have this happen all the time. 

You can, however, influence the creation of magic by making the following twelve practices part of y...

“How do I become a mentor?”

An important question yet not discussed nearly as often as how to find a mentor. Many times we play the role of mentor in an informal way in our day to day interactions in both our personal and professional lives. When it comes to stepping more formally into the role of mentor we may hesitate wondering if we know enough...

^{Updated January 28, 2022.}

Great mentoring relationships seem to have a natural ease that require little effort yet yield valuable outcomes. What I’ve observed is that beneath this ease, mentoring partners have established and include three practices that nurture the relationship itself as well as the outcomes – being curious, conscientious  and co...