Top CCWomen Coach Insights on Mentorship and Career Advancement

Angela Saafigueroa is a dedicated Clinical Supervisor, Mental Health Therapist, and the proud Owner of Heart of Amber Therapy. With a compassionate approach, Angela specializes in helping individuals navigate a variety of mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, trauma, and issues within couples and family dynamics.

Lucy Todd works as a Certified Professional Coach helping corporate millennial women interrupt the 24/7 stress cycle, discover what their most fulfilling career looks like, rebuild their confidence, and craft an escape plan. She developed her core 1-on-1 coaching offer, The 4-Step Career Reset, to provide the personalized support she wishes she’d had.

Here, our two CCWomen coaches explore best practices for impactful mentorship and career advancement. 

Angela Pereira Saafigueroa dissects mentorship

Top Do and Don’t for Finding a Mentor

Do: Be mindful and intentional in your search for a mentor. Reflect on what you truly need and seek out individuals whose experiences and values resonate with your own. When reaching out, express your genuine admiration and clearly articulate how you believe they can support your growth. As someone who has transitioned from being a clinical supervisee to a clinical supervisor, I’ve come to understand that embracing transparency and the willingness to make mistakes is crucial for growth in the mentor-mentee relationship. It’s important to create a safe space where these experiences can be openly discussed with your mentor. This openness not only fosters personal and professional development but also strengthens the mentor-mentee relationship allowing for deeper learning and mutual trust. 

Don’t: Be passive or unclear. Refrain from sending impersonal messages or waiting for opportunities to come to you. Understand that building a meaningful mentor-mentee relationship is a journey that requires patience and effort. My approach has always come from a place of curiosity and understanding, and to connect with a mentor as I would want a mentee to connect with me. 

How to Define Your Mentorship Style

Mentors can define their leadership style in a few ways that focuses on compassion and the human condition:

• Self-Awareness: Engaging in self-reflection to understand their own strengths, areas for growth, and core values. This self-awareness fosters authenticity and consistency in their mentoring approach.
  
  
• Effective Communication: Practicing open and empathetic communication, setting clear expectations, offering constructive feedback, and truly listening to their mentees' needs and concerns.
  
  
• Flexibility: Recognizing the individuality of each mentee and being adaptable in their mentoring style to meet diverse needs and circumstances.
  
  
• Role Modeling: Demonstrating the qualities and behaviors they wish to inspire in their mentees, such as integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to lifelong learning.
  
  
• Vulnerability: When mentors openly share their own challenges, mistakes, and learning experiences, they create a safe and supportive environment where mentees feel comfortable expressing their own vulnerabilities. This openness encourages honest communication, deepens the connection, and promotes mutual growth. By modeling vulnerability, mentors demonstrate that it's okay to be imperfect and that growth often comes from facing and learning from our struggles. This approach not only strengthens the mentor-mentee bond but also empowers mentees to embrace their own journeys with courage and resilience.

Lucy Todd demystifies career advancement

How to map your career goals

First, rather than your skills, focus on your interests, values, and personal and professional priorities! Otherwise, you may find yourself with a roadmap to a career you don't truly want.

With true-to-you goals solidified, your next step is identifying strengths and gaps. Feedback from managers, clients, and colleagues is a helpful place to start, but high-performing women may find themselves with little to no direct feedback (apart from, perhaps, "You're doing a great job!"). It's ok to ask directly for feedback — and explaining why it's important to you may yield better results.

 But your own assessment is equally valid: How competent and comfortable do you feel in various tasks and situations that are relevant to your career goals?

Lastly, evaluate whether any gaps are truly relevant to your career goals — and why or why not — to steer your time and energy in the right direction.

How to be flexible with career milestones

Hitting goals feels incredible—but missing a rigid goal with a set deadline can feel like failure. So first, try to remember: as long as you’re still pursuing your goal, you haven’t failed. 

 Here are three great ways to practice flexibility on your career journey:

• Set fluid timelines, not rigid deadlines. Stick to "Assess progress in 1 month" versus "Achieve goal in 1 month."
  
  
• De-emphasize achievements which are sometimes outside of our full control. Focus on action steps instead, as they’re typically within our control. For example, schedule a meeting with your manager and/or mentor, outline role requirements, and summarize relevant achievements.

Ask yourself, “If I knew it would take longer than I hoped to reach my goal, would I give up?" If the answer is no, allow yourself some rest—then keep moving forward! (I credit my own coach for this question.)

Looking for more leadership insights? Read our second CCWomen magazine here!