Mentoring can take shape in many different ways — from informal career chats and advice to internal programs at your company or global mentoring programs such as Femme Palette. No matter the format, being a mentor has many benefits including further developing your active listening, leadership, and feedback skills, just to name a few. However, sharing experience across companies, countries, and cultures provides even more value to both the mentor and mentee. 

As much as we could wish for it – the career ladder doesn’t always lead upstairs. The same as life has its ups and downs – the career path is no different. Someone might experience being fired due to budget cuts, someone might make a crucial mistake in the process, and other might decide to leave the perfect position during their trial period because of a bad boss. The question remains: is it possible to regain confidence after such a career blow? And how to do it? 

Here are a few simple tips on how to navigate the topic of angel investment as a beginner.

Lisbhit England signed up for our Coaching and Mentoring program. After working with a coach first, she got matched with her mentor Lucia Belkova and they clicked instantly. And despite this being Lucia’s first time mentoring fully online, they managed to overcome this challenge through transparency and building trust. In their interview, Lis and Lucia open up about their mentoring journey, what surprised them, what they learned and what were their favorite parts of it all.

Sharing your experience is an important part of mentoring and is an easy way to give back. Even with just a few years of experience, you’ve likely gained a lot of knowledge during that time that you can use to help inspire and guide someone through their personal and professional development journey. ‍However, simply giving a monologue about your life and hoping it encourages your mentee to take action isn’t the best approach. Here are a few tips for sharing your experience so that it has an impact.

Building a sense of belonging is a necessary step in achieving inclusion in the workplace. The goal is for employees to feel truly comfortable and like they can be their true selves in the organization. If we feel that we belong somewhere, we become more productive and innovative. ‍But how can organizations build this sense of belonging? And how should we approach this in virtual teams? We talked about this at one of our latest DEI Palette Club’s events with Alexis Curtis-Harris, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Penna, and Rachel Luff, Global Inclusion & Diversity Learning – Strategy Lead at Expedia Group. Here are some of the most important takeaways which the speakers shared on building a sense of belonging.

If there's one thing that everyone keeps mentioning in all blog posts, workshops, and conferences – it is networking. The activity of meeting and talking became so popular it also moved to an online platform when the pandemic and lockdown hit. Networking has become an ideal activity for extroverts whose daily bread is chatting and meeting new people. But what happened with introverts? Have they ever attended networking sessions? ‍The truth is they did and sometimes they benefited even more than extroverts attending a networking event. But how did they do it? The secret is they knew their strong points. Read on to learn six practical tips crafted specifically for introverts who'd like to learn the art of networking. 

Mentoring is a two-way learning experience that can be a great way to improve your leadership skills. Anyone who has been in a leadership position knows that being a good leader isn’t always straightforward. While it’s important to understand your own leadership style and what motivates you as a leader, you’re not the only person involved in the equation. A big factor in being a great leader is how you work with other people to meet their needs. Mentoring outside of your immediate environment is an excellent way to learn more about how other people think, how they work, and what they need.