Reverse mentoring can provide corporate leaders with valuable generational and cultural perspective, and foster inclusivity by bridging the gap between populations diverse in age, ethnicity, culture and gender.
Many companies establish reverse mentoring programs around age, with millennials helping older colleagues understand generational perspectives and learn new technology.
Other reverse mentoring programs focus on bringing together leaders from majority groups with more junior colleagues from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, straight people with colleagues who are LGBTQ, or non-disabled colleagues with disabled colleagues.
The opportunities for learning and open discussion that reverse mentoring provides are fluid and countless, and the connections formed by mentors and mentees can improve morale and result in collegial relationships that last beyond the life of the mentoring program.
