When asked who has inspired and influenced you throughout your life or career, many people can point to a family member, a teacher, or colleague who has had a significant impact on their life. However, how many of us can say we've actually served as a mentor ourselves? Often we forget that the best of what we have to offer others, one of our most impactful ways to give back, lies in what we already know – our skills, experience and expertise.
This is precisely the case with mentoring. Studies show there are numerous benefits to mentees at any level. Mentors provide critical real-world experience and anecdotes on professional life that you just can't glean from a textbook or lecture. Sometimes you have to live it to learn it, and mentors are a resource to access this real-life learning.
Conversely, mentoring offers numerous benefits for the mentor themselves – building leadership and communications skills, gaining new perspectives on their function, company or industry, and providing contentment that they are making a difference in someone's life.
TriplePundit's recent article 'Corporate Mentoring Builds Leaders From Within,' discusses the positive impact mentoring has on both the mentor and mentee.
Mentoring has a tangible value for everyone involved. One of the largest take a ways mentoring can provide are the creative, diverse perspectives gained from the mentee. Mentoring can also increases the confidence of those being mentored as they gain a different perspective on how to deal with issues they face.
Within organizations, mentoring can be a core component of professional development. But organizations can also encourage employees to lend their time and talents to others outside of their own organization. The primary focus of Symantec’s external mentoring efforts focus on empowering and inspiring students in STEM and helping us meet our 2020 goal to excite, engage and educate 1 million students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Employees at all levels are helping us achieve this, empowering students and professionals across the world.
Symantec employee, Anna Xie, mentors a group of middle-school girls as they prepare for the Technovation Challenge in Cupertino, CA.
For example, Darren Thomson, Symantec's EMEA CTO, is currently mentoring two female students interested in STEM. The program will last 3-4 years where the girls will gain invaluable experience as they approach their university studies. They will gain real-world work experience and interact with Symantec employees across a variety of functions, as well as receiving guidance from Darren through one-on-one meetings, university tours and the chance to attend key Symantec events. At the same time, Darren is really looking forward to the experience and chance for a fresh perspective on his business and industry, as well as a view into the journey of young students pursuing their passions for STEM.
Additionally, Symantec employees are working as Professional Mentors through TechWomen, a five-week program where future female leaders in STEM from the Middle East and Africa come to work at Symantec and other technology companies. Participants work side-by-side with Symantec mentors, gaining technical and soft skills to take back to their job and share with others. Each year select mentors also choose to visit participant home countries and engage females in STEM through additional mentoring, educational workshops and more.
We thank all of our TechWomen Professional Mentors for giving their time to this impactful program including:
- Eileen Brewer, Senior Manager, Security Appliances Team, Volunteer of the Quarter
- Kuldeep Khanijow, Senior Principal Business Ops Analyst
- Mohna Dhomse, Senior Manager, Info Development
- Devanshi Sheth, Principal Program Manager
"It’s hard to describe how inspiring it is to witness the learning process and see these young women from remote communities in Africa and the Middle East beam with pride once they’ve ‘got it,’"says Eileen Brewer.
Last year, TIME magazine's article "The Secret to Happiness is Helping Others" highlighted scientific research that proves we are happier when we give back … in the right ways. This includes finding a cause you are passionate about and an opportunity that allows you to leverage your skills and interests.
As the article states, "The key is finding the approach that fits us. When we do, then the more we give, the more we stand to gain purpose, meaning and happiness—all of the things that we look for in life but are so hard to find."
For some, mentoring might just be that perfect fit.
Lora Phillips is Symantec’s Director, Corporate Responsibility