Submitted by Silvia Bianchi and Eva Martinez
In March 2022, Women in Aerospace Canada proudly launched a new initiative – a formal mentoring program building on the teachings of the Evoke Consulting Advancing Women in Aerospace Leadership Training Part II, Module 3: Building Strategic Relationships. To succeed, it is critically important for women to surround themselves with advisors and champions. Understanding the role that mentors and sponsors play in their careers and learning how to in turn become mentors are important professional skills that were honed through this program, with a concerted effort to ensure mentoring sessions were value-added engagements for the participants. The program offered professional development courses on how to be a mentor and a mentee, culminating in a speed mentoring event at the end of the program. Overall, the mentoring program was incredibly well received by those that participated and we are looking forward to offering it again in the future.
As the aerospace industry embarks on a post-pandemic recovery and we see tremendous organizational shifts, there is no better time to link industry leaders with key talent to support their continued progress and development in the sector. In the meantime, we thought this Harvard Business Review article by Mark Horoszowski titled How to Build a Great Relationship with a Mentor is worth the read.