Mentoring for women empowerment!

IOE Senior Advisor Akustina Morni takes a close look at how mentoring can inspire the next generation of women leaders.

It is easy to imagine the dynamic Ms Amina Mohammed opening a book shop in Nigeria in the early days of her career. The charismatic leader, the current Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, said she noticed a gap in the book seller market, and seized the opportunity. Individual book shops did not exist in the country. Only gift shops sold books, together with numerous other items.

One could feel the listeners smiling upon learning this during IOE’s digital conference on womenpreneurs. IOE Secretary-General Roberto Suarez-Santos asked the follow-up question that was on everyone’s mind, ‘What is the secret ingredient to your success?’.

Amina replied without hesitation ‘Have an idea. Have people buy into that idea… be very focused and know that it won’t happen in a day. Enjoy the journey for making your business a success. Don’t be in a hurry. Because it’s the one building block to becoming, from micro to medium scale to right at the very top. Do it together and go for GOLD. I would be just very bold and courageous. Learn that mistakes are a good thing. You trip, you fall down, you fall in the crack on the road, but you get up and get better from those experiences. This life is a journey and make each step count.’ 

This is also in line with what she said in another unrelated event, ‘My basic education is what has me where I am today – but now you also need an entrepreneurial spirit and skills’.

Her words offer some wise guidance to young entrepreneurs and leaders.

What is it about these great charismatic leaders - who happen to be female – that make them stand out? The opportunities are there for female leaders, but the leadership gender gap persists at the societal and enterprise level.

Courage is an ingredient for success

Look for a second at this interesting finding by Harvard Business Review: Women do not apply for jobs unless they are 100% qualified. This is because most women take the job requirements - based on qualifications - literally. This is strongly supported by another source, where women were found to be 26% less likely to ask for a referral even when they had a connection to someone at the company that was hiring.

What is holding women back?

Our invited speaker from South Africa, Ms Raghmah Solomon (CEO of Vortex Design Solutions) highlighted that,’If you want something. Be proactive and not reactive. Don’t wait for someone to include you or ask for your opinion. Not many people spend enough time highlighting that NOT doing, NOT asking and NOT engaging is a choice. It is not enough to say afterwards that someone else was hogging the spotlight, so you did not engage, put up your hand. You need to be brave and step forward. A boss only spends limited time with the team and if all they see is Bob adding value in meetings, then that is all they remember when management reviews come up.’

It appears that there is a pattern here. The role of courage in female leadership cannot be underestimated. This is not something many young girls or boys can learn from school. This has also a lot to do with the social support network, the upbringing and life experiences.

Mentorship can certainly add value to women heading into leadership roles.

Mentorships, whether formal or informal, can bring about positive change in the workplace – for both the mentor and mentee. Benefits for the mentor include, among others:

Benefits for the mentee include, among others:

Did you miss IOE Gender Network's event on mentorships on the occasion of International Women’s Day? Watch the recording here.