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Dear Gen@Work,
I have ten direct reports. Three are women. Do I have a greater responsibility to mentor them and talk up their accomplishments within the company?
—Mentor Wannabe in Washington DC

Boomer Perspective: Marilynn Mobley

Dear Mentor Wannabe,
In a word—no. Your responsibility is to provide an environment in which all of your employees can grow and achieve results. When they do, you should recognize their efforts with no regard for their gender. It isn’t fair to the men—or the women—for you to show favoritism. Above all, don’t assume the women need your support more than the men.
If you believe your employees would benefit from a mentor, offer to help them find one, but it shouldn’t be you. The best role you can play is to show genuine interest and share your knowledge with every employee so that each person benefits from your tutelage. What each person does with the information and encouragement is up to him or her.

Whether you realize it or not, you’re always mentoring—for better or worse—simply because of your position. Your reach is not limited just to those who report to you.

Gen X Perspective: Magan Crane

At first blush, I’m all about sisterhood. Think back to the women who gave you a hand up over the years. You don’t want that chain of support to stop with you. Madeleine Albright, once the highest ranking women in U.S. government ever, often said, “there is a special place in Hell for women who don’t help other women.” If she recognized the importance of mentoring other women, we all should.

Research shows that women are not very good about getting their work noticed. They do lots of career-killing stuff without even realizing it, like mothering everyone or asking permission to ask a question. (I know I’m guilty of the last one.) Seeking out and mentoring the bright, ambitious women who report to you is a great way to give back. Is there someone whose brilliant proposals are being sidelined because she just keeps her head down and doesn’t know how to get them noticed? Is there someone whose frequent personal phone calls have gotten her labeled lazy?
That said, I think your primary responsibility is to be a good boss and highlight the successes of everyone who reports to you—men and women. You don’t want to be labeled one of the girls. Because you aren’t just one of the girls, right? You are a professional, and the most successful leaders I know recognize the value of all of their employees.

Millennial Perspective: Traci Tsai

The short answer? Only if they deserve it.
I understand the motivation for the question; the business world of old favored men, so as a successful businesswoman, you want to ensure opportunities and recognition for businesswomen of future generations. However, if you begin to mentor and praise your female reports more heavily than their male counterparts when they haven’t earned it, you will be committing the same crime of bias in a different way.

You should mentor and praise all your best employees based on their performances. As soon as you start praising your female employees for achievements for which you would not praise your male employees, you have lowered the bar for those women and you have created feelings of inequity among the male members of your staff. You are actually limiting the initiative and drive of all your team members, reducing the overall quality of work from your team. The females on your team may come to expect praise for lower quality work and the men may lose their desire to produce out of pure frustration. The intentions may be right, but the action would be counterproductive on a number of levels.

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