January is National Mentoring Month, an annual mentoring campaign nationwide dedicated to celebrating and elevating the mentoring movement. What a perfect time to celebrate the importance of mentors in some #MentoringMoments.

Mentoring Moment 1:  in 2019, I had the privilege of working with 14 remarkable women to create an amazing mentoring tool, an anthology titled, Mentoring Moments: 14 Remarkable Women Share Breakthroughs to Success. In this motivational self-help book, I wanted to provide a tool for women contemplating the direction in which they wanted their career to go, for example, women in the workplace who were trying to decide whether they wanted to enter (or leave) corporate America, mid-career hires with little or no direction, and entrepreneurs who were ready to break out on their own. I wanted them to realize that if they had direction and support, that they did not have to feel as though they were doing it alone, and that if others could succeed, so could they.  This book has been a great tool for women across the nation and was named a Finalist in the 2019 Best Book Awards sponsored by the American BookFest. Stay tuned for the audiobook in 2021!

Mentoring Moment 2:  Early in 2019, I had the opportunity to become a mentor with the Pass the Torch for Women Foundation.  Pass The Torch For Women Foundation was formed with a vision of a world where ALL women are equitably represented at all levels of leadership in business and government. The mission of the organization evolved to address the needs of women throughout their career lifestyle.  As a mentor with the Legacy Leaders, I was able to develop a mentoring relationship with an experienced executive and through that relationship, I have had the opportunity to learn from her (probably as much as she has learned from me).  As a result of this rewarding relationship, I decided that this was an organization that I was passionate about and in early 2020, joined as a member of the Board of Directors.  I love the fact that women of all stages of their life and career have the opportunity to benefit from mentors and I am proud to be one of the mentors making that difference.

Mentoring Moment 3:  My most impactful mentoring moment was when I reconnected with a former colleague at a conference in which I was a speaker.  We worked on the same team back when everybody was preparing for Y2K (a huge IT project for the business-related changes needed to flip to the year 2000).  She made a point to thank me for everything I did since she was new to the company and in her first job.  She said that I made such an impact on her personally, in her career and really helped her adjust to a new city as well as the organization. I never knew that I had that impact and it was very touching to hear that. She is now a wife, mother and a very successful leader in a different company.  Lesson:  You can be a mentor without even knowing it!  

As we enter into 2021, see what mentoring moments you can have in your life, career and future – whether as a mentor or as a mentee.  Find an organization that can assist you with mentoring resources and begin making a difference to other women by mentoring, investing and connecting with other women.

Denola Burton is the Founder and CEO of Enhanced DNA:  Develop Nurture Achieve, LLC.  Through Enhanced DNA, Denola develops and nurtures individuals and organizations to achieve their Leadership, Communication and Performance goals and objectives.  Denola is also an author and publisher and created the Enhanced DNA Publishing Division of her company where they assist new and newer authors in publishing their books according to the Independent Book Publishing Association (IBPA) standards.  Denola retired from Eli Lilly and Company after 27 years where the majority of her career was focused on Employee Relations/Human Resources.  You can connect with Denola on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIN and Twitter at Enhanced DNA Develop Nurture Achieve or on her website at www.EnhancedDNAPublishing.com.