Leadership is a complex role that involves commitment to the whole organization. For anyone promoted up from a technical position or with a particular specialty - and isn't that always the way - it's difficult to shift to a more strategic perspective and let go of worrying about your department or technical changes in your field. Instead, the leader's challenge is to widen her lens, focusing instead on the threats and opportunities facing the organization and developing (and selling) a vision of the future that is compelling.
Making that shift to a top leadership role is easier when the manager has a mentor, someone just ahead of her who has already played that particular role and can show her the ropes. The mentor might say: "There's a minefield," or "Over there is a pitfall," or "Those decisions will cause your staff to feel overwhelmed," or "I think you'd benefit from gaining more skills in ...." Great advice if you can get it.
For women in management, the person above them on the career ladder is usually a man since most executive leaders or Board Chairs are men. While the landscape is changing slowly, the view from the hilltop remains the same.
Mentors are people you share your fears, hopes and dreams with. It's an intimate relationship that requires honesty and tough talk. Younger women have been known to say that the relationship with a male mentor can be intimidating or feel awkward because it's unusual to have that kind of coaching from a male. If your career depended on being mentored by a male manager, would that be comfortable for you? Have you had that experience? Did you seek him out, or vice versa? How has it been fruitful? Or have you had several mentors (men or women)? Let us know how you learned to lead.
