By Lilly Adjorkor ADJEI/Isaac Ato MENSAH
Tema – 13 February, 2019
HE:
Twenty years ago in my undergrad days, there was an ad in a magazine with a lady on one page and a gentleman on another, each leaning on a mountain bike.
They were both wearing designer sun glasses and smiling.
In the foreground was mountain scenery.
The text was simple:
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SHARED THE SAME PERSPECTIVE?
It was a great concept. When you like each other’s company, great productive creativity is born.
SHE:
In the wake of the #MeToo campaign, many men are shying away from cross gender relationships at work, church, schools, you name it.
Men mentoring women has become even more controversial.
The campaign which started in the United States has since spread throughout the world; Afghanistan, Nigeria, India, Germany, Israel.
So men have the right to be concerned, maybe even scared, since prominent men have been accused of despicable conduct.
Should that stop or make men hesitate from mentoring women?
‘Sometimes there are big hurdles, but good players can overcome them,’ says Sonny Bill Williams.
There certainly are great gains for both the mentee, mentor and the organisation.
David Smith, an associate professor of sociology at the U.S. Naval War College and Brad Johnson, professor of psychology at the United States Naval Academy had a studio interview on the subject published in Harvard Business Review (published 23 October, 2018 on hbr.com) with host Sarah Green Carmicheal.
This is what Johnson had to say:
BRAD JOHNSON: When a guy stands up and publicly promotes and sponsors a woman, we find research showing that his end-of-year evaluations actually go up. When a woman is a public sponsor for a junior woman, her evals are more likely to suffer. You know, she’s viewed as showing favoritism; he’s viewed as a champion for diversity. So there’s even some inequity there, but all the more reason men have got to be willing to engage here.
Sarah Green Carmichael asked: ‘so I’m wondering if people want to get started, what the appropriate way to begin is?
Brad Johnson had a good suggestion.
‘So we tell guys, be specific, say, “Hey, I saw you do this at that meeting” or “I watched how you put together this project and that was amazing. I’d be willing to chat with you anytime, you know, I’d love to hear where you’d like to go and if I can be helpful.” You know, so you offer and you know, I think very often she’s likely to take you up on that and have a conversation. Keep it low key; don’t require anything of her. Just make you know, make it clear that you think she’s terrific and has done something very specific that you’ve been noticing and then let her follow up with you.’
Our perspective:
Mentoring is not our forte in Ghana, but you must ‘Follow your passion’.
This one is even more complicated.
‘Let’s take it one day at a time’, is the best advice.
And always keep it honest and clean.
OK, folks, that’s our Valentine’s Day rap.
Feedback; [email protected] (or WhatsApp Lilly on 057 867 3383).
Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana.