Advocacy-Matters-Summer-2022

2.
Practical tips.
Provide your mentees with the
practical tips and tricks that you had
to learn the hard way, for example:
a. Hold your drink in your left hand,
so that your right hand remains
dry and warm for handshakes;
b. Put your business cards in your
outside right pocket or inside left
pocket so you can reach them
easily with your right hand while
holding a drink or an hors d’oeuvre;
c. Reach for the napkin first,
and then the hors d’oeuvre; and
d. Prepare some graceful exit lines
in advance.
3.
Meaningful introductions.
Meaningful introductions are more than mere exchanges of names. Mentors can
provide icebreakers to help give their mentees some traction to start their own
independent conversations and make real connections. Point out shared interests
or interesting news that your mentee can expand upon (e.g., “This is my colleague,
Katherine. We’ve just promoted her to partner, and she just bought her first
house!”). Introductions are also a great opportunity to engage in active championing
on name pronunciation or preferred pronouns. Mentors can shoulder social
burdens by intervening to ensure their mentees are addressed the way they want
to be addressed. (Of course, this must be predicated on clear communication, and
not on assumptions – address this together as part of the game plan stage).
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