Thank you everybody for coming today. Um Very excited to kind of talk to you about one of my very favorite topics um which is all around mentorship and, and how that can really help um everybody but specifically kind of our next generation of women leaders take the field.Um I've been very lucky to have wonderful mentors in my life and um have definitely uh tried to make it a mission of mine uh to continue to bring people forward uh through their careers. Uh So we'll, we'll try and make this um short and to the point. So we can also have some open questions uh and uh thrilled and thank you for being here today. Awesome. So a little bit about me. Um My name is Jen. I am a mom of a young boy named Jack and I'm actually expecting my daughter later this year. Uh So when we think about kind of where the world of work is going and, and how we bring uh women leaders through, um There's I have a personal uh experience of really wanting my son to be an incredible advocate uh for women in the workforce and hope to ingrain that in him. And of course, um as my daughter grows, wanting her to also um be able to have everything available to her and every opportunity available to her. Um I've been leading teams for almost 15 years at this point. Uh and it is my passion and my love. Um There is nothing that fills me up more than seeing folks succeed and bringing them through. Uh As my mentor shared with me, um my reputation is to be scrappy, but strategic.

Uh which means that I have just as much fun getting into the details as setting the big vision. Uh And really, it has been a key goal of mine to really help eliminate challenges for women in the workplace. Uh I really try and be an advocate not just for folks who are on my team or who I mentor, but for anybody who's in the room uh to have a great seat at the table to share their perspective along the way. Uh And then I try to think of myself as fierce even though that may not always be supernatural for me. Um kind which I think is and then I have an interesting philosophy towards mentorship and to me, um once a mentee and mentorship relationship succeeds, uh they get me for life. Uh And that's often very much beyond kind of what uh typically folks say in terms of the term that you should be mentoring for. But um my door is always open and it gives me great joy to see the folks who I have mentored taking the field and taking the stage. So why lift as you rise?

Uh So this actually has an incredible personal connection to me and the mentor who's made the biggest difference in my life. Um So that mentor is a leader at AD P. Um Her name is Kristen Andrusky. And um we were brought together through a program at the company and uh she continues to be a tremendous influence both in my career, but in my life, and this was the first thing that she said to me as we talked about where my career could go and her philosophy towards leadership.

And it's something that I've adopted from her, that she actually adopted from her mentor, Maria Black, who is one of the um executive team members at the company. So lift as you rise is a challenge, a philosophy and a testament to lift other women as you rise through the ranks. Uh It's really about thinking about bringing through that next generation of leadership and understanding that that is not just your role, that it is your responsibility as a woman who came before. Uh And so I really look to um find those gems um bring them through and, you know, love kind of not only lending expertise as a mentor um but also as a sponsor and as a leader uh to my team as well. So I try and keep this in mind in everything that I do, whether that is working with the company, um diversity, equity and inclusion um perspectives through employee resource groups or through 1 to 1 relationships. Um But it is my philosophy and my belief that every woman leader should be thinking about how we bring more leaders that are women through the pipeline.

Uh So if I can ask you for one thing that um you may take away from this is that when you're sitting in a room, think about the other women who may be either earlier in career or just may not be as confident as you and really try and lift them, you know, through giving them opportunities to speak, giving them opportunities to do different things um that may challenge and provide them with a better career path.

So as with any great relationship, um mentorship is really about chemistry and timing. And um when you think about that, a great mentor, mentee relationship takes work, it takes commitment and it means that you have to be able to put the time in. Uh So when we think about the chemistry piece of this equation, it's really about finding that person who kind of really jives with you, that may mean that they're very different and they can provide things to you that you don't see coming. Um or it could be somebody who's followed a very interesting and similar career progression. Um But what's really important is finding someone who you can relate to who you can be comfortable with and you know, that can sometimes happen through programs where folks are matched.

Um But I actually feel like the most successful mentoring relationships are generally organic. So where you've seen somebody who you aspire to be someday, uh somebody who you feel could be a great resource in some aspect of your life and you approach them to take that role. Um And this is where the timing comes in. So there are wonderful, great leaders who love mentoring. Um And sometimes the timing just isn't great. Um This actually happened initially in my relationship with my mentor um where she had taken on a new role and it just wasn't the right time. So what we did was we actually decided to kind of take a pause and then come back to it once she had had her feet underneath her because she still had an incredible commitment to me and wanting to do and have that relationship. Um And, and do that in the right way, but the timing had to be right so that we could both put in the work that's necessary because the work is not on the mentor as much as it is on the mentee, but you both need to be able to put in the time, make sure that you're scheduling the time because initially it can be really awkward uh particularly if it's someone you don't know, uh you have to really be able to say, like I'm gonna push through this, you know, first couple of coffee meetings so that I can get to know you and understand how um I can be a great kind of resource to you and vice versa.

Um Because one of the best things that I find about mentoring is really reverse mentoring as well because there are often things that if you are a high performer, um you come from a different perspective, you know, you may be earlier in career or you may have different things that you've done in your career.

Those can both be great things that you can add value to your mentor in addition to the value that they provide to you. I love this. Um To me, mentorship is a relationship that's a lot like going to Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and what happens in your mentoring relationship should also stay there. Um This is, there are oftentimes if you're set up by um by your company in a mentorship program, or you're choosing to be mentored by somebody who's, you know, several steps ahead of you, which I highly recommend. Um There is potential for that to get in the way of business as well, right? So new role, things that might be coming into consideration your mentor may check in with your manager. Um But what that, that relationship that that mentor has with you needs to remain confidential because this is a safe place where you can share things that you would never share with someone who's in your direct reporting line. This is where you talk about the things that you may hate about your current job and where you wanna go.

And that mentor should always be thinking two steps ahead for you in terms of where that career pathing could go and help you and challenge you to get there. Um But it's really important that that line uh really remains, that the mentor's responsibility is to the mentee. And I have advised folks who I have mentored possibly to seek roles outside the company or if they were going through a particularly challenging time in their career, um to think more broadly about their opportunities within the company itself, which, you know, particularly their front line manager may not be particularly thrilled with me in that case.

Uh But that is the, that is the commitment, that is the um way that we can really drive careers forward and drive people forward through trust and through having that responsibility to have their back. In fact, my mentor actually did this for me in a really amazing way. Um When we first started our relationship, it was a pretty rough point in my career. And because of that, we were able to confidentially and openly talk about where things could go and how I could get through an incredibly rough time. Uh You know, and it's something that her commitment to me was just as strong, even though it wasn't a great time in my career. And I came through that bigger, better and stronger because of her support. This is one of my favorite things about mentorship. A mentor often has two roles and that is to find your superpowers, but also your blind spots. Um When you think about preparing for a career and thinking about 23 steps ahead of where you're trying to go, these are incredibly important concepts, the idea that you really bring something to the table that others cannot and often you have a very hard time in finding those yourself.

Um Those may be known by your manager, the manager may not have given you the type of work to uncover those, but it really is that mentor's responsibility to find them nurture them and allow you to think about what you could do differently to be able to apply them. The same thing applies to your blind spots. Um You know, when you're looking and potentially high potential employee, um you may be getting a lot of praise. Um You may be very early in your career and you know, you're thinking about, you know, Sky's the limit and nothing's gonna get in my way. But there's always gonna be things that you either can't see for yourself and that you need somebody to help coach you through in terms of being able to understand your strengths, but also your weaknesses and, and how to round out a team or, you know, do things in order to be able to kind of move through those.

Um, but it's really important to have a relationship and someone who you trust, who is not influencing your day to day work to be able to call those out and really say to you, hey, do you really think that that's like the, the the next way to approach this? Let's think about a couple different ways that you might and here's how I might think about what you could do in order to round out that issue. So say, you know, you're fantastic from a vision perspective, but maybe you don't do the operational side as well. How do you find kind of that chief of staff or that partner in crime on your team to help round that out? Uh And that's really where being aware of those things, being able to talk through them, understand the different options is a really incredible asset that a mentor can provide to you. And then lastly, um asking somebody to be your mentor can be one of the most intimidating things that um you could possibly do. And my challenge to you is not to be afraid, this is where you really can think about who is going to be that person who can truly influence the outcome of your career and sometimes standing in front of someone who's an executive at your company, who might be two or three steps ahead of where you are in your journey or even more can be incredibly intimidating.

But my challenge to you is to push past that, push past the fear of asking and advocating for yourself. Because when it comes down to it, mentorship, relationships and being a mentor is one of the most rewarding things that an executive can do when you have the ability to see the impact that you have made on somebody else's career. And ultimately, when they surpass you in theirs, uh it is one of the things that I know I am most proud of in my career and that I, I will gladly take on mentees as long as I can um to be able to support them and push them through to that next level. So when you're thinking about that relationship, this person who you choose is often just as honored that you chose them as much as you're scared that you're going to ask them. So, don't be afraid. Um And if somebody has signed up to be a mentor in a program or who's been approached to be matched with you, if they've said yes or that they're, they're willing to try, then that's ultimately um somebody who is going to put their time, their knowledge and their value in you.

And it is an amazing relationship to foster and one that could really help accelerate your career um without mentors in my personal board of directors, I don't know where I would be today. I think the mistakes that I could have made, um, would be so much more um destructive to my career than anything that any risk that I've taken to date. And I've done that with their support. I've done that with their guidance. Um And then I have tried to do the same for mine. Um And I love being able to talk through kind of that next step and how potentially that might impact or might allow somebody to go even further in their career. Uh So it is an honor just as much for them as it is for you. And so the challenge is, don't be afraid to ask, um ask somebody to do it, ask somebody to be in your corner. Um But also that you have to put the time in. It is by far the responsibility of the mentee to make that relationship work, particularly at the get at the get go. Um So you need to be fierce, you need to be um resilient about where you're trying to go and, and how you're gonna get there. Um And really, and really push forward that, you know, getting mentors and, and, you know, particularly at least 1 to 2 people who are gonna help you guide your career, um is the best investment that you could make for yourself.