As published in Barron’s on March 5, 2020
A coaching client of mine was recently quite upset that a female partner at a prestigious law firm refused to take a networking coffee with her to discuss shared experiences of being a woman in a male-dominated industry. She was shocked that this partner would not want to help another woman in business.
Unfortunately, I see these rejections on a daily basis. In fact, I sometimes have to be the one doing the rejecting myself: Given my stretched time running a business, I’ve had to decline more than one invitation to sit down for coffee with a female advisor seeking my advice on “how to make it in a male-dominated industry.”
There is no doubt that the wealth management industry has a dearth of successful women. Part of the reason, I’ve found, is that many women in entry or mid-level careers keep searching for the wrong types of mentorship and advice. Rather than searching for a mentor with whom they can have tactical conversations around professional development, growth strategies, referrals, and leadership best practices, many times, unfortunately, these women are seeking a shoulder to cry on and someone to vent to.
Unfortunately, when they can’t find that from senior women in the industry, who are often too busy to be that shoulder, they feel lost, and many times leave the industry.
