…February’s “V-Days”

I have been witnessing an interesting twist to an old tradition. I remember that, as I was growing up, the month of February used to be a month to celebrate “love and friendship,” particularly in relation to Saint Valentine’s day; the elusive figure from the early years of Christianity for whom it is difficult to find historical evidence. As you know, this is a welcome occasion for many companies that sell all things imaginable that may be related to friendship and beyond… greeting cards, candy, chocolates, flowers, movies, songs, books, intimate apparel, jewelry, romantic getaways, dinners, and everything in between!

As I reviewed two years ago, this holiday generates spending in our nation to the tune of “teen billions” in sales. Last year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expected a dip in sales from the previous year: $14.7 Bn in 2009, compared to $17.02 Bn in 2008 –in case you were wondering, no estimates for this particular festivity were publicly available for 2010 at the time of this writing, but a projected increase of 2.5% in sales for 2010 leads me to believe that we might see a slight bump.

NRF’s data also shows that only the end of the year and the return to school generate larger sales than “V-day;” not even Mother’s or Father’s day, Easter, Halloween, the Super Bowl or Saint Patrick’s day inspire our nation to open our wallets as we do in the middle of February. And, of course we are not the only ones stimulating the economic cycles; all around the world, there are variations that celebrate love and friendship, with the exception of cultures that explicitly reject Western influences as do some Hindi and Saudi Arabians.

Where is “the Twist”?
For the past decade or so, I have been observing an increase in popularity, scope, and support for a different type of “V-Day,” the movement created by Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues. I would be surprised if you haven’t heard about it, as universities and community centers all over the US have been organizing readings of this work on or around February 14. What started as a presentation of diverse feminine experiences (including one that was highly questionable to say the least) has become a world-wide movement that demands a stop to all forms of violence and abuse against women.

I will admit that the monologues were not particularly appealing to me when their dissemination started. The reviews I read cautioned that one of the segments offered a highly appreciative portrayal of a lesbian rape of an underage, drunken girl, while most other segments categorically condemned –as they should!—any violence perpetrated by males. Critics also pointed out how harmonious relationships between men and women are not given enough “air time” within the event, compared to traumatic encounters. Others have criticized the “hijacking” of St. Valentine’s Day and in a few countries –including European ones like Monte Carlo or Monaco—the piece has been found vulgar or tasteless.

The Redemption of the Monologues?
Still, the activism that this movement has been generating is worth a close look. Among the most noticeable outcomes of the V-Day movement we find a dozen festivals prominently covered by the mainstream media thanks to the support of well-known personalities; thousands of benefit events in cities around the world; and a great deal of grass-roots events with the purpose of educating, raising funds and supporting organizations that year-round help victims of domestic and other types of violence. This year the focus is on the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of many fronts that, thanks to its marginal socio-political status, has gone largely unnoticed by the media. Kudos to Ensler for using in this way the notoriety that her V-Day movement has acquired!!

Another initiative that I find laudable is the grass-roots creation of a V-Men event for 2011. Within the next few weeks, focus groups will be joining men who are willing to contribute their own experiences, thoughts and other resources to stop the violence against women. As a researcher on women’s experiences at the workplace who also happens to be the husband of an amazing woman, father of two little girls, brother of another two great women, and son of a most loving home-based activist, I can only strongly recommend this effort that surely will eliminate the criticism that V-Day is a “man hating” event.

Should We Have a “BV-Day”?
Considering all the disadvantages that women encounter in business –the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling, mommy tracks, double-duty, tokenism, glass cliffs, stereotyped treatment, difficulties in finding mentors and career advocates, to name just a few—perhaps we ought to have a “BV-Day.” At least once a year, we, in the world of Business, should stop to reflect how a very subtle type of violence is perpetrated against some of the smartest, hardest working, underappreciated individuals who just happen to have a body that is different from those of us in the majority.

What do you think? Feel free to send me an email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or post your comment on my facebook or LinkedIn page.

¡Hasta la próxima!

To learn more:

This Wikipedia entry summarizes what is currently known about Saint Valentine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine

The National Retail Federation publishes data on consumer spending through the following website: http://www.nrf.com/

Ensler’s Vday organization’s website is at: http://www.vday.org/home

Your Board of Directors

If you attended the 20^th Annual Conference and Job Expo of NSHMBA in Atlanta, I hope you enjoyed -at least as much as I did!—the many talks and events that happened during those action-packed days.  Every time I attend a NSHMBA event, be it at the local or national level, I feel like I get a “shot in the arm” that energizes me and makes me proud of being a part of such an inspiring group of people that care so much about what is going on in their communities that are willing to spend some of their time and other resources giving back to many who are in earlier stages of their managerial careers.

One of the many talks I truly enjoyed was delivered by Ms. Iris Valdez, who spoke about “Creating a Personal Board of Directors” that each of us needs to cultivate and maintain in order to be as successful as possible.  Her recommendation stated that our personal “BOD” should have two family members –one that is successful and another one who is not, to provide a balance—, an old boss, and someone we have mentored in the past.  Clearly, this advice is very culturally fitting for cultures like ours that make every effort to keep family close.  I would only add a “future” dimension to the parameters for choosing personal BOD members: finding a mentor who currently is or has recently been in a position or industry we are interested in reaching in the next five to ten years might be a helpful complement.

Ms. Valdez’s inspiring advice makes a lot of sense in the face of the empirical evidence from the Management research.  Recently, my colleague Dr. Gayle Baugh, from the University of West Florida, presented a paper at an academic conference, in which she examined whether “more mentors are better” and concluded that indeed, it’s better to have several advisors, rather than rely on a single one for career advancement.  On its face, this might sound like a trivial question until one considers the fact that each mentoring relationship tends to be very demanding of time and other resources if it is to be truly successful (and I really mean “mentoring” instead of coaching, role modeling or casual advising, which are much less involved; for details, see page 8 in last month’s bottom line, in which I wrote about what best mentors DO and what mentoring relationships are NOT!).

I also found very interesting that two of the tracks that NSHMBA’s own BOD has identified as priorities for the near future were referred to in that talk: Enabling Mentoring Experiences and Joining Boards of Directors.  The rationale for this second track is that Hispanics in corporate America –particularly at the top levels—are vastly underrepresented.  I believe it is a neat allegory that having a personal BOD might be an effective way to join a corporate BOD. 

What do you think?  Are these ideas likely to increase your interest and involvement in NSHMBA?  If you are on either side of a BOD (inside, with some lessons to share, or outside, interested in joining), why don’t you share your thoughts as to how valuable a mentor can be?  Are there other more valuable strategies that should be taken into account?  As always, I invite you to share your thoughts by emailing me at drolivaslujan@gmail.com, faxing at 814.393.1910 or posting a comments on this blog.

And, of course…  Merry Christmas!  Happy Kwanzaa, Hanukkah,…!!!  Hope that your worst moments in 2009 are like the best of 2008!!!

To learn more, check out:

• Behan, B. (2007).  Should you join a board?  Video clip by Hay Group Managing Director Beverly Behan; she provides hints to systematically evaluate whether you should join a board of directors.  Click here to see it.

• Ragins, B.R. & Kram, K.E. (2007), The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research, and Practice. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

...mentors and protégés!

Do you have a mentor?  What about a protégé?

These are two of the most interesting questions that my colleagues and I made to over 1100 highly successful women in nine countries.  We found a wealth of information that we have started to share with our relevant stakeholders, and fellow NSHMBA members are certainly a subset of these that might be interested in a briefing!

I hope that you can identify a person or more that in your career has been helpful, supportive, an advocate, more than a colleague or a friend to you.  If you can’t, and are interested in improving your career, FIND one!  If you have a bit of experience to share and are interested in people or in their organizations, BE one!  Even though a mentoring relationship tends to be more productive for one of the parties (hopefully the protégé!), there are many advantages for both.  Mentors’ “return on investment” –non-monetary, of course—includes a reputation as a professional that cares and is willing to give back to the community.  Most respondents for our survey were able to identify up to eight mentors (average between two and three, with some differences across countries), but not everybody had experienced this type of relationship.

What exactly do mentors do?

Mentors offer at least two distinguishable and measureable kinds of support to their protégés or “mentees”: one is emotional, psychological, or social, and the other has more of an instrumental or political quality.  Management researchers call the first one “Psycho-Social Support;” it is put in action when somebody says “Congratulations!  Your presentation to the board was great!” or “I feel your pain; you should have gotten the project.” The second type has been labeled “Career Support,” and we can see it happening when a senior person gets the mentee involved in projects or initiatives that provide exposure and future opportunities or is willing to back him or her for increasingly challenging assignments.  It’s also important to clarify that mentors are not coaches, guides, counselors, pals, or sages exclusively (see the box titled “Mentors Are Not:”), although they may perform some of these roles. 

Mentors often find protégés (or the other way around) in professional associations –NSHMBA is quite likely to be a fertile ground for mentoring relationships to flourish, but also your local chapter for Marketing / HR / Accounting / Purchasing or any other function that your day job involves.  Even your children’s school PTA, the neighbors’ group, or your church, synagogue, or similar congregation may provide a context for finding one or more mentors or protégés.  In fact, there is some evidence that suggests that “informal” mentoring programs often are more successful than their “formal” or company-sponsored equivalents, but the successful women from our study seemed to indicate the opposite.

The literature on mentoring is full with very helpful information to better understand what mentoring is, how it works, and when it works best.  There are also situations in which a mentoring relationship may be detrimental for the protégé –as in the event that the relationship is misinterpreted by outsiders or the mentor exploits the relationship—or for the mentor –for example, when the protégé does not live up to the expectations or abuses the senior person’s reputation.  Having a healthy mentoring relationship may have an occasional risk (what doesn’t?), but by the most part it seems to be a “win-win-win” for the mentors, mentees, and their organizations.  Recently, researchers have started to publish on emerging trends like “e-mentoring.”

Before I forget!  I should tell you that this literature and its results are NOT part of the book that my colleagues and I published in 2006!  If you happened to buy a copy, you know that there are many other very interesting themes there, but this is not one of them!!

Interested in mentors?

If you have had a positive mentoring experience or you are interested in becoming a better mentor, I invite you to share your thoughts by emailing me (drolivaslujan@gmail.com), or posting a comment on my blog (http://drolivaslujan.blogspot.com/).  ¡Hasta la próxima!

To learn more, check these out:

• De Janasz, S.C., Sullivan, S.E. & Whiting, V.R. (2003), Mentor networks and career success:  Lessons for turbulent times.  Academy of Management Executive, 17(4) 78-91.
• Hamilton, B. & Scandura, T. (2003), E-mentoring: Implications for organizational learning and development in a wired world.  Organizational Dynamics, 31 388-402.
• Ragins, B.R. & Kram, K.E. (2007), The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research, and Practice.  Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

 

  

Mentors Are Not:

-       Coaches!  By the most part, coaches work with their clients on a narrow, specific skill set, using a relatively formal structure

-       Guides, Lecturers, or Counselors!  These tend to tell you what to do (and maybe even how), instead of just helping you figure it out

-       Role models!  One may have many of these, but infrequent interaction with them differentiates them from mentors

-       Pals!  The best mentoring relationships are between individuals with clear differences in status, connections, expertise, etc.

-       Always older!  Occasionally, a younger person may be an effective mentor for an older person that has recently changed careers or entered into a different environment

-       Advisers or Sages!  Of course, some mentors are very wise and helpful, but even a “typical Jane/Joe” can be a mentor to someone (see the “Best Mentors Do” box)

A mentor often plays several of the roles above, but each of those roles individually does not constitute a mentoring relationship.

 

Best Mentors Do:

ü  Provide a “sounding board” to their protégés

ü  Introduce them to people that can help them –inside or outside the organization

ü  “Go to bat” for their mentees

ü  Encourage them to try innovative things without taking excessive risks

ü  Show respect, confidence, and sometimes even fondness toward their mentees

ü  “Let go” of a mentoring relationship when the time is right

 In a nutshell, offer psycho-social and career support!