If you ask successful people what they attribute most to their career growth, many of them will tie their accomplishments back to having strong mentors along the way. The same could be said for Sheryl Sandberg, the current COO of Facebook. Throughout her professional career, she played a hand in the IPOs for both Facebook and Google, and served as the chief of staff for the United States Department of Treasury. She was recently named the fifth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

Sheryl Sandberg contributes much of her success to strong mentoring relationships

When it comes to mentors in the business world, Sheryl Sandberg mentions in this CBS News piece that we often think of a man-to-man mentoring relationship versus one that is comprised of a man and woman. She shares that it’s natural for two men to share a beer and have this type of camaraderie in a hotel lobby while traveling for business, but may send out the wrong signals if a man and woman were to have a drink in the same environment. For this reason, she explains the importance of more senior and tenured professional women taking on younger women as mentees to help guide them along the way in their careers.

Just like Sheryl Sandberg, Patti Austin and Dawn Carroll attribute much of their success to the strong mentoring relationships that they have developed throughout their careers. Wanting to spread the word on the power of “Mentorology,” they founded the Over My Shoulder Foundation. The goal of this non-profit organization is to raise the awareness of what a positive impact mentoring can have across generations and cultures.

For more information about the Over My Shoulder Foundation and our mission, please contact us today!

Photo Credit: Drew Altizer Financial Times