Breaking Through “Bitch”

CHAPTER 10Helping Women Break Through the Barrier

Mentoring is critical to the development of leaders, particularly women¹, yet there are complications associated with mentoring women. Many men—who make up the majority of the mentor pool—are, to put it bluntly, uncomfortable with their female colleagues in these kinds of situations. Another obstacle is the unfortunate reality that women in leadership often do not help other women join them at the top of the corporate ladder. Thirty years of workplace evolution have not removed these inconvenient truths. Successful women leaders understand the specific reasons for men’s discomfort with women and the ways to mitigate them, even if it is outside their full awareness. Mitigating the discomfort of ...