The courage to be vulnerable: 5 lessons I learned as a career mentor

Last year, I had the pleasure of serving as a mentor in an Executive Mentoring Program for Women. What an enriching experience! For me, the program was an opportunity to organize and reinforce many of the lessons I already experience in my day-to-day corporate life.

More than a professional development process, experiencing woman?to?woman mentoring carries an even deeper meaning. There is a different kind of listening, a natural sense of identification, and a genuine exchange about the challenges and achievements that shape the female journey in the corporate world. This connection creates a space of trust, empathy, and mutual empowerment—something that transcends techniques and methodologies.

According to the Global Mentoring Group, mentoring is “the process of supporting a person in identifying and creating desired states, developing and accessing their internal resources to achieve results in an accelerated way.” Since the beginning of this journey with my mentee, I have reflected on what truly makes this process so transformative for both of us and how it positively influences the career paths we are building within the organizations we are part of.

Below, I share five lessons I’m taking with me from this year?end cycle—insights I believe can inspire other women in their careers.

1. Vulnerability is strength

In mentoring, it’s common for the first conversations to revolve around goals and results. All of that is important, but at the end of the day, true connection happens when there is room for vulnerability.

When mentor and mentee can share doubts, insecurities, and learnings without fear of judgment, the relationship becomes more human and trust flourishes. From there, conversations grow more authentic, questions deepen, and exchanges become genuinely meaningful.

I am certain this process is enriching for any professional—especially within the context of female leadership, where many challenges still lie ahead despite recent progress.

2. Clear objectives prevent frustration

I believe one of the most important steps in any mentoring process is clearly defining the goals we want to achieve. That’s why it is essential to encourage structured reflection from the start, helping each participant understand:

• What is your life and career plan?
• Where do you want to go professionally?
• Which skills or behaviors do you need to develop?
• How do these goals connect to the organization’s strategy and challenges?

With clarity, the journey becomes more consistent, measurable, and aligned. Mentoring stops being just an exchange of experiences and starts generating real impact.

3. Listening is more powerful than responding

As a mentor, it felt natural to want to share my experiences and offer guidance. However, I learned that the true strength of mentoring lies not in ready-made answers, but in active and genuine listening.

Creating a reflective space—where the mentee can hear herself, question, and build her own answers—is what truly fosters learning and self?knowledge.

Mentoring is not about pointing out solutions, but about cultivating an environment of trust where each woman recognizes herself as the agent of her own path—the protagonist of her story.

The mentor stops being the person who “shows the way” and becomes the one who helps ask the right questions, enabling each woman to discover the direction that makes the most sense for her journey.

4. A career built with intention

Professional trajectories often follow pre-established paths with defined stages and expectations. Yet each career can (and should) be built intentionally, aligned with what genuinely matters to the person navigating it.

Participating in a mentoring relationship is therefore also an invitation to reflect on essential questions:

• What do I want to improve in myself throughout this journey?
• What legacy do I want to leave for the organization and the people around me?
• How does my work connect with my values and motivations?

I believe that when a career is guided with this level of clarity, it gains resilience, authenticity, and meaning.

5. Closing a cycle, opening new paths

As I conclude this mentoring cycle, I look back and recognize the connections formed, the lessons shared, and the often quiet transformations that took place throughout the process.

More than tangible results, this journey—walked together—highlights the importance of trust, clarity, courage, and alignment with one’s values in building a meaningful career.

These elements strengthen not only individual development but also companies and their cultures, fostering more empathetic and collaborative environments.

I believe that walking the path with intention and openness to the new is what allows a career to evolve. As Brené Brown says in her book The Courage to Be Imperfect (which I highly recommend):
“Courage is not about winning or losing. It’s about showing up with an open heart—without knowing the outcome.”