How to Build a Mentoring Program
“What are the essentials of a mentoring program?”
“Is this something any college or corporation could implement?”
“Do you need special training or expertise or a certification to participate?”
As I pondered and researched these questions, I came to realize that the most important characteristic of a mentoring program is the desire of the mentors to invest in the professional or collegiate development of another. In many institutions, academic or corporate, there is limited opportunity for people of diverse backgrounds to access the information needed on how to climb the ladder of success. We refer to the networks people build that allow them that access, as social capital. Many of us realize that who you know is as important in many ways, as what you know. Learning about position openings and other opportunities is part of the path to upward mobility. Sharing this information with underrepresented populations of people, is just one way to both demonstrate our personal commitments to diversity and ensure that future generations of workers or students will add to the diversity of those in positions of authority in our institutions. Diversity mentoring establishes our legacy and increases the resources for the corporations and institutions to which we have given much of our professional lives. An investigation of the composition of the Fortune 1000 and Fortune 500 companies reveals, for instance, that women comprise about .03% of the CEOs. The numbers are even more disparate and dismal if we consider the number of people of color heading these companies. There is a stratification of diversity in most institutions and corporations as well, with less racial, ethnic, and gender diversity at the upper end of the pay and power scale (administration, leadership, tenured faculty), and overwhelmingly more at the lower end (custodial workers, maintenance, etc.). The rates of matriculation and retention further demonstrate the importance of mentoring programs, which insure we can sustain our efforts over the course of time. Increasing diversity prepares the workforce of tomorrow for the changing demographics in the U.S., as the numbers of people of color is predicted to result in a minority majority by the year 2050. Without a focus on diversity today, how will we make that transition for the future? I’ve often wondered if we are properly preparing ourselves and young people to move towards a pluralistic state, as the demographics move us toward that point. Are institutions preparing themselves and modeling the kind of behaviors that they hope to inspire in future generations of leaders, managers, and employees or in the case of academic institutions, students, staff, and faculty? Many corporations and institutions parrot catch phrases about diversity, but fail to acknowledge or make changes necessary to credibly support diversity. Certainly they may receive credit for the more superficial changes, but those will not take these institutions into the future credibly. Leader’s actions speak louder than words and must reflect what they say about their commitment to diversity. It is imperative we prepare our up and coming leaders for these demographic and social changes by giving them opportunities to share power with people of color and women, thereby giving them opportunities to see their institutions stand up for diversity. Minority mentoring is key way to ensure greater access to social and informational resources for persons of color as well as ensure that everyone rising to positions of power have an appreciation for diversity. There are many resources available to link outcomes with this type of social and cultural capital. Many successful people can point to a specific person or event that changed their professional lives. Most of us remember a favorite teacher or professor, manager or executive, who invested in us and demonstrated they “know the way because they go the way.” They were examples for us to follow and inspirational figures for us to aspire. We must look deeper than letters of recommendations, loaned books, scholarships, invitations to apply to open positions, telephone calls, and visits. It is more than those material advantages that added value to the mentoring relationship. Mentoring provides a constant reminder that someone is responsible for showing the way, not just knowing the way. Both mentors and their charges are empowered and affected. I have found mentoring to be personally and professionally rewarding. I rediscovered friendships with colleagues from years before, and learned a great deal about the young people surrounding me daily. The relationships that have developed are symbiotic: I am learning from the students I mentor as I continue to invest in them. I am more connected with young people in our society and they delight in showing me how much I seem to have lost touch with over time. This helps remind me of the many paths and challenges I faced as I moved up the ladder. It is important for us to reflect on our motives and experiences as well as how we understand the role of mentor. What is the intention of mentoring? What does it look like and what are the goals? What do our personal experiences bring to the table, both as challenges and resources? When writing this article, I started to list the individual characteristics of the people who had influenced me. The similarities were glaring!
All were committed to their own fields and areas of expertise, most having had a great deal of success pursuing their own hearts’ desire.
All of them showed me a path. They helped me to discover where I wanted to go and a way to get there.
They each told me what they knew about the potential pitfalls and asked what I thought I could do to avoid or conquer them.
Each gave me a way to be accountable and seemed to always already be aware of my progress. I now know, that this was no accident.
Each one played a silent but powerful role in influencing my life path, but none told me what to do.
They had faith in my abilities and were complimentary of my successes, but mostly, they showed me they cared about my success before they tried to get me to care about what they knew.
Companies or colleges that are interested in a program may want to consider the essential components of a corporate or educational mentoring program. While it is certainly a benefit to have a population of diverse mentors (which mirrors the goals of diversity), it is not always possible. Many institutions and companies just don’t have the racial, ethnic, gender or other diversity to pull volunteers from. But they may have the resource of caring, ally-building, and appreciation for diversity. I once attended a meeting on a diversity program where a woman of color was abruptly dismissed from the advisory council and replaced with white women. No plausible explanation was given for the change. Until then, it had not dawned on these leaders that the credibility of their program rested on the credibility of the members on the advisory council. Students or faculty members are less likely to want to get involved in a group espousing fairness and diversity, but do not account for the symbolic nature of the lack of diversity. The composition of that committee was quickly restored once the council was challenged, but those involved did not quickly forget the seriousness of the issue of the credibility for leadership in diversity. Because many of those committed to diversity have dedicated the time to learn about emerging issues and demonstrated that they care about the diverse makeup of the people in our society, they are in many ways, uniquely qualified to mentor others. The history of change in U.S. culture is tied to the contributions of men in the feminist movement, whites in the civil rights movement, and people who are a variety of sexual identities in the struggle for gender equality. Some companies or schools are fortunate to employ a Diversity Manager. If not, the following is a toolbox of ideas to jumpstart your efforts.
Who are the people in your organization you admire who reflect openness to diversity and fairness, or have made attempts to reach out and mentor others informally? Does your human resource office have an effort underway? Is your management team, executive team, or administration on board or will they require facts, figures, reports, and data to get started? If so, begin the work or collaborate on ways to boost the current initiatives.
What will the mentoring look like? What are the goals — to increase the numbers of people representing diverse perspectives or to support just one employee or one student see a path to success?
Who should help?
While it is laudable that any person with good intentions would want to be a part of a diversity program, the importance of these positions should not be taken for granted. Every new member should attend training, be supported in their process, and be appreciated for their commitment. The credibility of the program, not to mention the toll on the interpersonal relationship and mentee’s success, are at stake.
Meet with other like-minded allies and discuss the development of the program, as well as its purpose or plan. Be sure to put some dates with your ideas. This is a collaborative process, so the more allies, the better.
In academic circles, this may mean deciding whether the focus of the program is merely academic, or includes other aspects of the students’ lives. Is there a focus on building leadership skills, tracking, note-taking, studying and tutoring skills, understanding the bureaucracy of the institution (cultural capital), or building relationships with others (social capital)?
Teaching others to build cultural and social capital is equally as important in corporations. While some people believe this is just “playing the game”; knowing the rules is a critical part of playing the game successfully.
Begin “recruiting” allies and mentors. Give them a personal inventory and interest sheet to discover their interests. This will be useful for matching mentors with “mentees” later in the process. Should mentors choose the person or people they want to work with, or would you like to match them according to interests?
When you’ve met and established a rapport together, be sure to include the last, recurring step: inspect what you expect. Discuss the progress that’s been made since you last met, such as work that was previously due, projects, meetings, or contacts. As a mentor, you may want to consider listening more than talking, and do your best to let your mentee draw their own conclusions, while you advise based on what they choose. Sometimes they will choose a path that you do not like or agree with, but it is their choice, and we are their advisers. Even if they fall, we can be there to pick them up. That kind of support encourages independence and accountability.
The best way to leave a positive legacy is to insure that the good work you do is to pass it on to others. We can make sure that as we select people to mentor or are selected ourselves, will we consider the fairness of our decisions as we recognize that there is talent in every pool of potential workers. If we share it now, when the demographics of our nation change, we will see a prepared, successful workforce, well equipped to address these changes. Will we feel our institutions have lived up to their diversity missions? Will we have prepared workers today for what the work force will look like tomorrow? I hope we will feel that we shared the skills and expertise we have developed with others and that we will feel proud if we could skip ahead 50 years and see our places of work as they appear in the future. I hope to leave a legacy of inclusion and diversity and shudder to think that a peek back in 50 years will reveal that institutions and corporations appear exactly as they do today. There is a certain power and pride in knowing our institutions appreciate diversity. We can feel good about it now, but we are also leading a way and setting a path for the future by preparing people today for the changes in our social demographic, and preparing them to follow through with the promises we hold most dear in the U.S. — freedom and justice for all. Imagine the power in that commitment.