Film-style poster for the Open Doors presentation

A guide for mentors: Open Doors

How to move from giving advice to opening doors for the woman you mentor.

English

What this guide covers

What this guide covers

What this guide covers

Why advice falls short

Advice alone does not get her promoted

Having a mentor raised men’s promotion odds two years later, but not women’s.

Men with a mentor more promotions after two years
Women with a mentor no difference
The gap sponsorship (Ibarra, 2019)

From mentor to sponsor

Know which step you are on

Each step from advice to sponsorship asks more of you and does more for her.

Advice

Strategy

Connection

Opportunity

Sponsorship

Where am I?

Visibility

Make her work seen

Small, public acts of support count for more than private praise.

Name her work in a meeting she is not in
Suggest her for a stretch project
Put her forward to speak at an event
Share her result with your own network

Warm introductions

Introduce her with a reason

Ask your contact first, then send a short note on who she is and why.

Ask your contact first would a call help?
Who she is one line
Why them one line
The ask twenty minutes

Direct feedback

Be direct and back her openly

High standards with clear belief and one specific fix land better than softened hints.

High standardI am being direct because this matters. BeliefI know you can reach the bar. One specific fixOpen with the decision you need, then the data.

About the work ~~You are not a natural presenter.~~

What you gain

Sponsoring pays you back too

Mentors report more job satisfaction and commitment than colleagues who do not mentor.

Job satisfaction higher for mentors
Commitment higher for mentors
Source Ghosh & Reio, 2013

Doing it on Mentornity

Track the doors you open on Mentornity

To-do lists, messages and events keep your promises in one place.

Keep a to-do list

Write each introduction or nomination you promised.

Message between meetings

Every message also reaches your mentee by email.

Bring her to events

Sign-ups come with a calendar invite.

Write a visible note

Your mentee gets the note and next step by email.

Keep a to-do list

Write each introduction or nomination you promised.

Message between meetings

Every message also reaches your mentee by email.

Bring her to events

Sign-ups come with a calendar invite.

Write a visible note

Your mentee gets the note and next step by email.

Meeting notesEmily P.

Visible noteEmailed to the participants at once Emailed

Agreed: lead the next team update, rehearse on Thursday.

update-outline.pdfUp to 10 files

Hidden noteOnly you and the program admins

1Keep a to-do list

2Message between meetings

3Bring her to events

4Write a visible note

Meeting notesEmily P.

Visible noteEmailed to the participants at once Emailed

Agreed: lead the next team update, rehearse on Thursday.

update-outline.pdfUp to 10 files

Hidden noteOnly you and the program admins

Open one door this month

Pick one introduction or nomination you can make, and tell her when it is done.

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