Mentoring Matters

For National Mentoring Month this January, we invited our Board of Directors member Heather Hildebrand to share her perspectives on mentoring.

Everyone should be a mentor and be mentored. Mentorship isn’t just important—it’s needed more now than ever. In a digital world, we have become more reliant on technology and disconnected from each other. We need to find new ways to create meaningful connections. Mentoring creates that vehicle for both mentor and mentee. Mentoring and coaching are integral to creating the connective tissue to help unlock individuals' unique strengths and shape the best solutions for ourselves, our companies, and our communities.

I received the gift of being asked to mentor an amazing colleague early in their career when they came to me asking for guidance. I gave them feedback, and because they were open to the process and active in making adjustments based on our discussions, they have been incredibly successful and promoted since. By believing in their ability, articulating the actions needed, and advocating for them, I’ve had the gift of watching the transformation. I may have benefited more than them.

A mentor’s role is to help their mentees achieve their goals with critical feedback, advocacy, and belief in their potential. As a mentor identifies and articulates their mentee’s strengths and interests, their mentees can take guidance and action on those recommendations. A good mentor provides both reassurance and clarity. The best mentors are also advocates. For the mentee I mentioned above, I routinely pull them into projects and connect them with leaders to further develop their experiences, networks, and points of view.

Girl Scout Alum Ayesha H. earned her Girl Scout Gold Award last year by creating a mentorship program through school to get more girls interested in engineering. After seeing fewer girls in her robotics class than in her core classes, she brought in professional engineers to host workshops on different engineering fields and create connections for her classmates to women in the industry. By facilitating these mentor/mentee relationships, she helped students and herself overcome imposter syndrome by feeling empowered and increasing their sense of belonging in STEM spaces. Reflecting on my journey as a mentor, the rewards have been profound and unexpected.

Think back to that person who believed in you when you were starting out. Now you have the chance to be that person for someone else. Mentorship extends beyond the workplace and can meaningfully make a difference for someone you may not know yet. So, consider committing to mentoring as you’re working on your resolutions to create change this January. And as you’re considering becoming a mentor, consider volunteering with Girl Scouts of Central Texas. Thousands of girls across our community are ready to discover their strengths and their path, both as humans and as the workforce of tomorrow. You can build up our next great generation of employees and leaders when you volunteer with Girl Scouts. Visit www.gsctx.org/volunteer to learn more.