I went to Leaning in to the Archives: Women in the Archival Profession and heard Cheryl Stadel-Bevans, L. Rebecca Johnson Melvin, Ashley Taylor and Danna Bell discuss their reactions to Sherly Sandberg’s book Lean In.
My biggest take aways were the comments the panelists made about mentorship. Danna described the positive relationships she formed early on in her career, despite being assigned a mentor. Others spoke about finding a mentor for “right now” not necessarily forever. There was also discussion about the importance and impact of developing mentoring relationships organically.
The panelists also described finding experiences to develop and practice leadership skills in non-hierarchical positions, by serving in professional organizations or leading teams within the workplace.
Danna described these experiences as opportunities to stretch and grow.
The biggest take away from this session was the idea of how important it is to bring enthusiasm to the work that we do and to the work place itself.
How have you “leaned in”?