I recently hosted a day long conference for tradeswomen in WNY and reflecting on the event, I need to speak to you about mentorship and sponsorship…yes, again.
If you are a regular reader, then you know this topic has been discussed but I want to approach it from a different lens, one that is less clinical and more personal.
(Go back to
that post and check out definitions, examples and practices to be your best self when it comes to mentorship, sponsorship and overall advocacy for others)
Inhale divine connection, exhale separation
A line from one of our seminar hosts, Kristie Galdenzi- owner of
Rooted Naturopathy. I loved that line- which came in a meditation exercise shortly after the day’s shining moment- the primal scream- it was electric.
“Inhale divine connection, exhale separation” is a call to action. Calling those that repeat this intention to leave behind what makes us different and shift our lenses to attach to common ground. In construction, that can be easier said than done. The facts are simple: construction is still 90% male and many women report feeling they need permission to enter the space, oftentimes to still be turned away, shunned or mistreated.
The positive flip to this narrative is that it’s also reported that these instances of prejudice are getting more infrequent or that we have male allies that step into the gap to lift women up and change the tone. Can the same be said for white women to their Black and Brown women in the trades? I want to say yes but the numbers have yet to prove that.Inhale divine connection.
What I hear repeated - often - whether it’s in my client’s spaces, as the Northeast Region Director of NAWIC or the other groups I sit on the board of, is the strain between legacy and new colleagues. To boil it down simply, legacy team members need to be proud of themselves first, proud that their hard work has laid a path that makes work and life easier today than it might have been for them coming up. Simply put,
respect is the antidote for tension here. Respect for ourselves and the work we do and respect for others and their individual stories.
For a workplace example- imagine a team that collaborated to get management on board with updating the accounting software. If you have ever been part of a project like this, or worked at a company going through an integration project then you know just how painful it can be. Hopefully not as painful as the outdated software, which is why we sacrifice short term comfort for long term viability. Once completed, the team that goes through this process will sometimes make comments to new employees like “you don’t know what it was like before- you have no reason to complain” when that really isn’t a helpful comment. Of course new team members don’t know what it was like but, stifling comments from your team about processes and procedures that may be once again outdated helps no one. Take pride in the fact you got it to 2.0 and support your team to now take it to 3.0.
Future upgrades don’t take away from the work of legacy employees-
we are
building upon it!
Progress Makes Perfect
If there is one thing I have seen time and time again in my long career in the construction industry, it’s the old adage of “we’re always done it this way” and also got to witness how that not only chases away new people but beats down progress.
If “we’ve always done it this way” was the catch all so many treat it as, when would we ever learn new things? Would we ever increase safety and minimize hazards?
If we can make the pledge to inhale connection, exhale separation, and hold true to those intentions, how can we lose? How can we not increase retention and decrease feelings of bullying?
