Section: WILLed Q1 2016
In Search of a Mentor
Whether you are graduating school and entering or re-entering the workforce, getting a promotion, forging a specific career path, changing companies or starting an entirely new career, continuing to develop and expand your skill set will most likely be a requirement. In a perfect world, every company would have an established mentoring program to help you glide through these transitions with ease, but the reality is many companies do not. The lack of a formal, employer-sponsored mentor program does not mean you need give up the idea of being mentored; mentoring is relationship oriented and development focused, so there are a number of ways you can establish and benefit from an informal mentor relationship.
Quarterly Calls, Quarterly Publications, and an Annual Meeting: Introducing WILLed and WILLPOWER
On behalf of the WILL Leadership team, we are excited to present our first edition of WILLed, a quarterly publication brought to you by ALFN's Women in Legal Leadership practice group. The purpose of WILLed is to disseminate information, promote unity, and provide updates to our members. By way of background, WILL was founded by the ALFN in early 2015. Following its initial launch, it became readily apparent that the group would take both the ALFN and the industry by storm! Within the first 2 weeks of inception, over 100 women from lenders, servicers, law firms, and other industry vendors joined the group.
The Bylines: The Women Working on WILLed
The Editorial Committee is currently under the direction of WILL Co-Chairwomen Natalie Grigg and Erica Fujimoto, and we are pleased to introduce you to our Committee Members who are listed below. Feel free to contact the full committee or an individual to pitch an idea or offer a contribution.
By the Numbers: Breaking Down the Demographics
As we set out to form a new ALFN group focused on women leaders in the industry, we thought it was important to first understand the composition of our group and its collective interests. Our survey focused on both the professional and personal attributes of our members, and the results show that we are all commonly interested in building a community of professional women who can learn from each other in a supportive environment that fosters camaraderie and relationship building within our industry.
On My Bookshelf
Leave Your Mark provides practical advice to employees at all levels. Aliza Licht is the former Senior Vice President of Global Communications for DKNY, and took social media by storm in 2009 with the creation of Twitter’s DKNY PR GIRL (@DKNY). Over half a million followers later, Licht had introduced DKNY to a new generation and propelled herself to personal success in the process. Licht provides a step-by-step guide on how to find your dream job, nail the interview, and navigate office politics to your advantage written from her own experiences during her 20-plus year career in the fashion industry. Simply put, this book is a must-read for the modern employee.
Mentoring: A Personal Perspective
The mentoring cycle runs from February through November. Substantively, the program includes events, education, and structured mentorship opportunities. In order to participate in the program, members are required to submit an application to become a mentor, to request a mentor, or to be both a mentor and a mentee. Each participant completes a profile and enters information in a Mentoring Match Tool which considers various criteria to create personalized matches based on the participants’ goals and interests.
Is Mentoring For You?
Legal mentoring is certainly not new to the legal profession but there does appear to be a trend toward formalizing the legal mentoring process. Seeing this trend, WILL decided to make legal mentorship one of its foundational pillars and the focus of this inaugural publication of WILLEd. While there is no formal mentoring program through WILL at this time, WILL recognizes both the importance and the necessity of legal mentorship and hopes to foster and promote mentorship among its members and the members of ALFN.