Women Who Fail to Mentor, Sponsor or Otherwise Uplift One Another Go to Hell





At least, that’s what Madeleine Albright said.



There is a quote by Madeleine Albright stating that "there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." While this may be true, I believe there is also a special place in heaven for those professional black women who take the time to mentor and support other black women on their career journeys.





We all know how hard it is to make it in corporate America, and we can all use a little help from our sisters.


So today, I want to share some tips on being an excellent mentor for the black women you work with. Whether starting or a seasoned veteran, there's always room to be a little better when supporting your sisters, no matter what you look like.


Let's get started!



The need for women to help other women



The need for Black women to collaborate, network, and support one another has never been more urgent Black women are disproportionately under-represented in leadership roles and face unequal opportunities due to gendered racism (the intersection of racism and sexism) issues. To bridge the gap within our companies and industries, we must individually do our best to share insight, experience, and knowledge systematically and automatically.


Black women should be agents of change by encouraging each other to take advantage of resources and serve as an example of what is achievable when Black women empower each other.



I was leaving my company and met with a colleague for a walking meeting in a local park.


She said, "Thank you for positioning me for leadership in the Woman's employee resource group. Taking on that role helped leadership see me through a powerful lens. It made a difference in my career trajectory."


I said, "No problem, anyone would have done it."


She stopped and turned me. "Actually, no. What you did is not the norm. Most women I've worked with were not helpful or actively worked to keep me down, citing, I'm not ready. You assumed my capability and allowed me to rise. Thank you."



The benefits of helping other women



Mentorship programs where women and men help women are gaining popularity for a good reason. To begin with, both mentors and mentees benefit from the relationship. Mentoring is an incredible way to share best practices while feeling a sense of community - like having a built-in support system. Mentorship relationships can provide invaluable insight, knowledge, skills and resources that often allow women to reach their full potential.


Mentorship also reinforces for women that no matter their challenges, they are not alone, which can lead to greater confidence and clarity in tackling whatever life throws at them.


Besides being empowering and inspiring, helping other women pays it forward beautifully.



How to help other women



Offering support, encouragement and help to other women is an invaluable way to help build each other up. Professional networking groups, leadership circles and accepting speaking engagements are some of the best ways to pay it forward and support female entrepreneurs, business owners, philanthropists, scientists and more.


Professional networks provide an excellent opportunity to share advice, resources and experiences, while leadership circles create a platform for collaborative learning. Speaking engagements allow individuals to make their presence known in the community by discussing topics that matter.


We can lift each other and ourselves by taking advantage of these opportunities.



I've found that offering to write recommendations on LinkedIn for the professional women in our lives is an easy and powerful way to raise another woman.


Remember that you don't have to wait for someone else to make a request if you want to genuinely recognize another person's professional acumen, start the process and provide them with your commendation.


Alternatively, you can post kudos for someone that has done great work on your LinkedIn timeline. Or even comment on their posts when they step into the spotlight, become vulnerable, and pen an opinion or article.


Recognize excellence when it happens - it makes a difference and allows people to be seen. Spend your social capital.





Why do some women not help other women?



It is not uncommon to encounter some women who do not assist other female peers. We could attribute this to various reasons, but ultimately boil down to institutionally grounded gender assumptions that lead to the perception of competition in the workplace or amongst women.


Fear of losing one's position or place can impede any chance of a generous gesture towards another woman.


Gender dynamics in the workplace illuminate that beyond traditional power hierarchies between genders we have normalized cultural issues, such as 'not minding another person's business,' within Black communities. This could be a significant factor contributing to an absence of solidarity among women.


General assumptions about the strong Black woman may prevent others from seeing Black women as needing help or support and prevent the women from advocating for themselves.



The consequences of not helping other women



Ignoring the needs of other women has a ripple effect, making it harder for their issues to be addressed and their voices heard.


Lack of representation in leadership means management is not considering the concerns of black women from a Black woman's point of view when decisions are being made. This can have consequences like widening the pay gap and disproportionately affecting minority and disadvantaged groups.


Supporting other women benefits both individuals and society since research shows greater diversity leads to a higher return on investment. Everyone stands to lose if we cannot help each other achieve our goals.



I worked at a company where, year after year, most Black women were being assessed with exceeding performance expectations reviews.


Yet, the company's promotion rate for Black women lagged significantly behind their white male and white female counterparts. The leadership never gathered, looked at the data or was blind to the optics. Thus, they did not hold management accountable for the reality of their work norms that shut Black women out of executive leadership out of power.


As a result, (1) when the company attracted prospective Black women, they quickly saw that the multicultural photographs on the company website (DEI page) did not represent the leadership, and they left. And (2) after prolonged careers of perpetual lateral moves, those top performers left for higher positions at other companies.


The company eventually invested in a study by female leaders at the company when they kept losing money because of talent leakage. The results yielded a series of recommendations for Black women by Black women. It included talent pipelines, deliberate mentorship, targeted sponsorship, and data-driven performance metrics/targets for leaders. I had already left, but it was nice to see they promoted many deserving Black women throughout the years on LinkedIn.


No one's in the C-suite yet, but I want to believe (hope) they're in the succession pipeline now.



We need more women to help other women.



When we help other women, we create a domino effect of success that can have lasting impacts both professionally and globally. Not only does it benefit the person you're helping, but it also makes you feel good and strengthens the relationships between all women.


If every woman helped just one other woman, imagine the possibilities.


And yet, some women choose not to help others because they believe there's not enough room for everyone to succeed or they don't want to be taken advantage of. But when we don't help other women, we're only hurting ourselves - and furthering the divide between White men and women and Black women in the workforce.


So let's be the change and commit to helping other talented individuals reach their full potential.


(Join a networking group! Become a speaker! Mentor someone! Post Kudos! Give a recommendation!)


Copyright K. Joseph 2023. All Rights Reserved.