|
Mentors Lead the Way to Success for African Americans |
Views: 1384
|
Thread Tools | Rate Thread |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Mentors Lead the Way to Success for African Americans
Connections forged through mentoring open the doors to greater opportunities. Although affirmative action laws were put in place to address inequities in the workplace, they do not provide any mechanism for enabling African Americans to ascend up the corporate ladder.
Most successful professionals can attribute much of their achievement to their mentoring relationships. Unfortunately, mentors tend to be drawn toward proteges that remind them of themselves. This frequently unconscious bias is human nature. Since most of the people at the top are white males, most of their proteges are the same. Mentors Make a Difference Studies of African American executives show a direct correlation between job growth, promotions and salary increases and having mentors:
In my work as a technology professional, writer and entrepreneur, I've taken time to establish relationships before seeking the guidance of my intended mentors. I have been fortunate enough to have had a best-selling author, chief technology officer, human resources consultant, venture capitalist, knowledge management expert and a national healthcare magazine publisher as mentors. These mentors introduced me to industry leaders, helped me write proposals, provided invitations to important events, counseled me on career changes, critiqued my presentations, helped me learn complex Web-development programming languages, assessed potential business deals, referred potential clients to me and coached me on project-management techniques. Their support and advice have helped be to become more focused, gain confidence and learn to trust my decisions. As a result, I am now experiencing a higher level of success and I find that great opportunities are starting to find me. How to Find a Mentor
|