Females and Workplace Mentoring . . . Nurturers By Nature?

Months ago I read an article that talked about mentoring at work. It shared that men and women appear to have very different philosophies.

Throughout history, successful men have typically identified a young up-and-coming man and taught him the ropes, essentially preparing him to step into his position once he leaves. Now that the workplace is more gender balanced, men still tend to pick other men to mentor.

Women at the top, on the other hand, do not pick proteges to mentor. The typical mentality of successful women, as expressed in the article, was that they tend to take the stance "I had to work hard to get where I'm at and the women below me can do the same".

Is it just me or does it seem odd that women, who are suppose to be nurturers by nature, refuse to nurture other women to be successful in the workplace? While I know there are always exceptions to the rule, I can envision many of these successful women with this attitude.

Women with this philosophy are so consumed with themselves that they don't even begin to see how helping  and building positive relationships with other women will not only help the other person, but will greatly benefit them too.

The article went on to share that because so many women at the top have this negative philosphy toward mentoring, it has forced many women to develop unique mentoring opportunities to help themselves in their professional development. Many have formed peer groups with women from similar organizations so they can share their concerns and shortcomings and get advice, since they can't get it from people inside their organization.

I'm very blessed to work in a great organization in which people above me are very willing and open to help guide me and teach me, but when I read this article a few months ago, it really struck a chord with me. I've been fortunate to have a couple of fantastic mentors (both female and male) in my career, but I know that I'm sadly in the minority.

I believe in the philosophy that if someone has taken the time to give you tools to help you on your professional journey that the best gift you can give them in return is to do the same for someone else. After reading the article on mentoring, I was inspired to reach out to a few women in my community that were in the same demographic, but worked at different organizations. I wanted us to be able to share with one another the professional lessons we've learned, but also connect on a personal level as most of us all struggle with some of the same day-to-day issues.

This group has tried to meet once a month and has had some great discussions such as learning to deal with difficult personalities in the office, assertiveness, and developing personal visions. The neat thing that has grown out of this group is it has also resulted in giving back to the community through community service projects.

I'm curious to learn what your experience has been with women at the top? Have senior women executives you've encountered been nurturers?

What is your philosophy on mentoring someone below you?