Mentoring can help lift you and others up
During Women's History Month, Micki Koehler, customer experience director at CONNECT, powered by American Family Insurance, reflects on the power of mentoring.
I’ve been very lucky to have women as mentors who have lifted me up during my career. Today I’m trying to pay it forward by mentoring other women, helping lift them up.
In honor of Women’s Herstory Month, I wanted to share more about how I’ve grown through these relationships and how you can, too.
Early in my career at American Family Insurance, I focused on finding mentors in more senior roles I was interested in as I grew my skills and experience. This was a great place for me to start. I learned more about these roles and the skills I needed to be successful in them. It was also a great way to learn more about other positions to see if they were a good fit for me.
As I progressed in my career, I started to look at mentorship differently. I looked for mentors who could help me develop different skills that I wanted to strengthen, such as influencing without authority. I approached a finance leader about a mentorship (even though I am not interested in finance as a career step) and it wound up being a really productive relationship.
To read the rest of Micki's story, see the ideas sharing site Medium.
About the American Family Insurance group
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, American Family Insurance has been serving customers since 1927. We inspire, protect and restore dreams through our insurance products, exceptional service from our agency owners and employees, community investment and creative partnerships to address societal challenges. We act on our belief in diversity and inclusion by constantly evolving to meet customer needs and preferences. American Family Insurance group is the nation’s 13th-largest property/casualty insurance group, ranking No. 232 on the Fortune 500 list. The group sells American Family-brand products, primarily through exclusive agency owners in 19 states. The American Family Insurance group also includes CONNECT, powered by American Family Insurance, The General, Homesite and Main Street America Insurance. Across these companies the group has more than 13,500 employees nationwide.