I’d like to start a petition to change the name of mentoring to womentoring (anyone up for creating a new entry in Wikipedia?). The boys don’t really need the word mentoring anyway – often it’s something they do quite naturally, so why would they need a special term for it? We promise, when womentoring becomes a normal, everyday practice for women, we’ll resort back to the original word. It may take a while, although with women’s mentoring programs blooming around the world, it could be sooner rather than later. Example: unprecedented numbers of women have registered to attend PWA Milan’s 3rd annual mentoring program launch on March 21. Just imagine…standing room only, for womentoring!

Incidentally, if you’re interested in going out and finding a (wo)mentor for yourself, click here for several concrete suggestions on how to go about it (excerpted from my related presentation at PWA’s 2011 mentoring launch).

P.S. On the other hand, I wouldn’t make any move to change the word mentalist to womentalist. How on earth could we ever find a female replacement for Simon Baker, whose charm and fascino are unparalleled?

Ultimando i preparativi per il corso sulla leadership femminile che comincerà l’8 Marzo, mi sono chiesta : Quale è il modo migliore per celebrare questa giornata? Una ponderata dissertazione sui progressi fatti in questi anni? Una protesta simbolica verso le ingiustizie che le donne, ovunque nel mondo, devono ancora subire? Un piccolo e insignificante bouquet di mimose che viene commercialmente distribuito ad ogni angolo di strada da Tizio, Caio o Sempronio?

No grazie, non fa per me.

Concentriamoci su quello che è veramente significativo per la maggior parte delle donne che conosco : champagne e cioccolato. Ok, se poi dobbiamo aggiungere anche un po’ di succo d’arancia alle bollicine per creare delle (vere) mimose può andar bene lo stesso. A questo punto, per avere un pasto a tutti gli effetti, non ci resta che aggiungere del bacon. Pronte per il brunch?

As I finalize preparations for the women’s leadership course starting March 8, I think: What’s the most suitable way to celebrate the day? A thoughtful essay on how far we’ve come over the years? A symbolic protest against the many injustices women still experience around the world? A flimsy little bouquet of mimosas, as distributed by every Tom, Dick and Harry – or should I say Tizio, Caio and Sempronio – quite commercially, in all the shops across Italy?

No thanks, I’ll pass.

I say, bring on what’s truly meaningful to the vast majority of women I know: champagne and chocolate. OK, if we have to add a bit of orange juice to the bubbly so it constitutes (real) mimosas, that’s fine too. Now, all we need to do to have a full-fledged meal is to add in some bacon. Brunch, anyone?