Studies have shown that mentoring can be very effective in enhancing career development for people of color and women. Well-designed mentoring programs can help underrepresented talent get noticed by senior leaders who often become advocates for their assigned protégé.
Historically, the underlying assumption of most traditional mentoring programs was that the accomplished leader would “coach” the lower level employee on how to advance in the organization. The advice, most generally, was based the mentor’s own experience. In other words, “Here is how I did it and I am sure this will work for you too.” Now we recognize that how a white male may have advanced, may not be the same strategies that a woman or person of color could use effectively, depending on the organizational culture. For example, a woman who is aggressive might be perceived as too pushy whereas a white man with the same traits is viewed as a go-getter. An African American male who is aggressive might be perceived as threatening.
To ameliorate some of these pitfalls, some organizations are now advocating reverse mentoring where the mentee helps the mentor understand his/her perspective in an effort to enhance the cultural competence of the mentor.
This still sounds like a one sided relationship to me even though I think that is not necessarily the intent. I advocate for “reciprocal mentoring”, whereby it is understood from the beginning that this is a mutual, win-win relationship where each party will benefit. (See: From Inclusion to Mutualism for Sustainability)
