/ 2 October 2007

‘Lift as you climb’

Tina Eboka follows the YWCA motto, ‘Lift as you climb”, as she makes her way up the corporate ladder. In line with this way of thinking, Eboka has served as mentor to ‘too many people to list”.

The Standard Bank Group Executive: Corporate Affairs believes that mentoring is good for succession planning and sustainable growth and that if well planned it does not consume that much of an indivi­dual’s time.

Asked how she became a mentor, Eboka says: ‘Sometimes people approach me directly and the bank [Standard Bank] has a formal ­programme for mentorship.”

Eboka believes it is best to mentor people within one’s industry, and while she mentors young people in general, she has a special interest in women in middle management.

‘You have to spend time to get to know the person and their aspirations,” she says of effective mentoring.

‘Find out more about the area of interest of the mentee and check out and develop any useful networks for him or her. Create opportunities not only to engage one on one, but to introduce them to others as well, and share inspiring relevant literature with your mentee.”

Asked whether she thought enough is being done by government and business with regard to women’s empowerment, Eboka says she believes that policy and intent is there, ‘however there is a mismatch of requirements for implementation”.