Mentorship Can Provide Clear Benefits for Women in Retirement Sector

Both female and male mentorship can be valuable for women in the financial industry, according to experts at OneAmerica Financial Inc.’s webinar, “Female Retirement Professionals Program—Making Mentorship Matter.”

The webinar is part of a program run by OneAmerica to foster the success of women working in retirement and financial services and an environment more women will want to join, according to Sandy McCarthy, president of retirement services at OneAmerica.

“One of the things we’ve focused on is: How do we enable success?” McCarthy said. “We came up with the notion of the four Cs, which are confidence, community, connection and culture.”

The retirement head said all four traits connect to mentorship. “Mentorship is a place where we can really learn a lot,” she said.

‘Build up That Element of Trust’

Panel participants noted that mentorship programs for women in finance can come from both women and men. But there are times, noted Lisa Fain, CEO of the Center for Mentoring Excellence, when it makes the most sense to seek out another woman as a mentor.

“If what you’ve identified is that you want to learn what it’s like to succeed as a woman in the financial services industry, a male mentor is not going to be able to give that to you, so there are reasons for same-gender mentoring relationships,” Fain said.

However, she said it can also be incredibly valuable for women to have male mentors because they may offer different sets of expertise.  

In addition, Fain noted that she has seen some successful cross-gender mentoring relationships in which the female mentee is very comfortable sharing with the male mentor their own experiences with gender and equity. Fain noted that these conversations often take time and need to be on a repeated basis. The best results are “never on the first meeting, never on the second meeting; it takes some time to build up that element of trust.”

Right Questions to Ask

To identify the right mentor, Fain suggested people begin by asking themselves what they want to learn. Asking those questions first is critical, because otherwise a mentee can get caught up in the allure of chemistry and charisma, rather than prioritizing the learning relationship they need.

“Often when people think about how to find a mentor, they ask the question: ‘Who should be my mentor?’ But that’s the wrong question to ask,” she said. “The right question is: ‘What is it that I want to learn from my mentor?’ Because ultimately, mentoring is about learning. Then the second question is: ‘What do I need from my mentor? What are the qualities of my mentor that I need?’”

Fain said it can even be counterproductive to ask for mentorship before knowing the reasons why. In addition to knowing what you’re looking to gain, Fain recommended that potential mentees find people who can help identify their next mentor.

“I often encourage people who are looking for a mentor to make that part of their mantra,” said Fain. “How many times a day do you get asked ‘How are you?’ The answer can be, ‘I’m looking for some mentorship and how to create a broader client base. Do you know anyone?’ Somebody might be able to fix you up.”

McCarthy agreed it is important to think about “the what, and then who” when it comes to mentorship.

“I think about it from my perspective: I almost think it’s reverse, right?” she said. “For me, it’s been the individuals who asked for me to mentor them. It’s equally important for me to understand it’s a dual role of benefit: I’m learning at the same time they’re learning.”