A mentor can help provide you with a wealth of knowledge and experience to grow within your field. How can YOU find a mentor?
Our guest, Dr. Rubina F. Malik is a Global Learning and Development Expert with over 20 years of experience in academia, consulting, and professional services. As a champion of coaching, mentoring, and career sponsorship, she is skillful in helping organizations enhance and develop high-caliber talent.
Hear Dr. Malik’s unique story of growing up as a “Paki Peach” and find out what she advises on how to find a mentor. The discussion includes insights on the different types of mentoring opportunities and how to approach a potential mentor. In this episode, you will learn the benefits of having a mentor and how you can make a mentoring relationship successful. Get an EDGE in your career and discover the missing link to getting the right people in your corner with Dr. Rubina Malik’s insight.
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
[00:00:00] Transcription by ESO.
Porschia: Today, we are talking about Mentoring 101 and How to Find a Mentor with Dr. Rabina Malik. Dr. Rabina Malik is a global learning and development expert with over 20 years of experience in academia, consulting, and professional services. As a champion of coaching, mentoring, career sponsorship, and leadership development, she is skillful in helping organizations enhance and develop high caliber talent to impact engagement, retention, and promotion of diverse candidates.
Competitive edge driving organizations from startups to Fortune 500 global brands depend on her to support, uh, and her expertise to propel programs such as mentoring, [00:01:00] career sponsorship, and leadership development. She is a TEDx speaker and a popular guest speaker at conferences and podcasts. She is frequently published in industry magazines, including highly respected academic and business journals, such as the Harvard Business Review to fulfill her passion and commitment to the community.
She is on several nonprofit boards that actively support education and equity based incentives. Hi, Dr. Robina. How are you
Rubina: today? Hi, thank you so much for having me. I’m well, I’m great. I mean, how could I not be? I’m here with you.
Porschia: Oh, well, we are excited to have you with us to discuss Mentoring 101. But before we get into that, we want to learn a little bit more about you, Rabina.
So tell me about seven year old Rabina. [00:02:00]
Rubina: Um, the seven year old Rabina. The seven year old Rabina was anxious. Yet excited. Um, she was anxious because she was about to get on an airplane to go to the other side of the world where she had no idea what she was getting into. She didn’t know the language. She didn’t know the culture.
She didn’t have no idea. when she got off the airplane, what the world was going to be like. And she was excited because being a daddy’s girl, she was going to be with her daddy. And she knew that her daddy four years earlier had gotten on an airplane. And she used to go every time she would see the airplane fly across, she’d go, daddy, daddy.
And here was her opportunity to get on a plane, to go be with her daddy. So that seven year old when she landed in the United States as [00:03:00] seven going turning into eight was like I said was very anxious and had a huge opportunity to recreate herself as someone she probably did not know who she was because she was away from her grandparents.
She was away from all her family members, just her and her mom and dad. So that’s my seven year old.
Porschia: I love it, Rubina. So that’s so exciting. Tell us a little bit about what country you were coming from, uh, in terms of going to the U S.
Rubina: So I’m originally, um, my, my family’s originally from Pakistan, so I was born in Pakistan and I was raised in Georgia and Atlanta.
So, um, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m what I call a Packy Peach from Georgia, but, uh, you know, from Pakistan. And so, um, You know, one of the things that I kind of say [00:04:00] it in gist, but there really is something about, um, that term that I’m using, because if you think about it, I have, I’m merging two cultures. You know, together to become one, to have that identity as one, right?
So I had to, you know, my, my culture, where I was raised, how I was raised in the house, the culture that I lived in, and I dealt with on an everyday basis to make me. The woman that I am today, honoring my culture, honoring where the culture I’m in honoring the culture I’m from and making sure that I am comfortable and what I have to offer and who I am.
And I know we’re going to talk about mentoring today. But that’s where, for me, uh, like mentoring has been such an impact, you know, most of my life. And why it’s so important to me to talk about, to mentor as well as to be mentored. To be [00:05:00] mentored and to be mentoring. Mm-hmm. . Um, so all men, you know, like all things mentoring, I feel like has brought me to where I am today.
So for me, it’s just a natural progression to be an advocate for it.
Porschia: Wow. Wow. That, that is so deep, Robina. And there’s a lot of identity work that people are starting to talk about these days. And I love how you touched on that, um, as a peach. Um,
and, and really thinking about identity and how you were, um, Exposed to that early on, right? As you move to the United States. Um, I think that is just great. And it gives you a great perspective. I think as you are mentoring your mentees and working with your students to really understand the complexities of what’s going on right for all of us nowadays.
So, um. Wow. Wow. Just very deep. Thank you for sharing that [00:06:00] Rubina. So when we think about, uh, when Rubina landed in Georgia in the U S what did she want to be when she grew up?
Rubina: Um, you know, if I’m being totally transparent, I’m, I’m, I don’t know if she knew. Um, and you know, if I think about my young childhood, Uh, I, I really honestly don’t remember a lot, um, because I definitely, I just can’t imagine being eight years, seven, eight years old coming in, you know, like I said, leaving a tribe, leaving a whole village of friends and family to come only know two people don’t know the language, don’t know how to communicate.
So that young version of me, I, I want to say she was very courageous to, you know, to be able to, um, move about the world. And to survive. And I would like to think that, you know, for her, it was just trying [00:07:00] to survive and learn the language, learn the culture. Um, and it was just that because and nobody knew my language.
It’s not like people could translate for me or anything. This was even at a time when there was no English as a second language classes. So I wasn’t, it was none of that. I mean, I had to kind of learn, you know, like I was, I was thrown into a classroom and I was learned. Learn how to do commas and periods and cross your t’s, uh, so there was no, hey, let’s work with her from this, this, this way.
So I think that eight year old was very resilient. But I’m not really sure if she knew what she wanted to do because it was at a phase where it was more out of survival and understanding versus creating. So I think my, you know, for me that the creating came later and then still continues to come. Right.
Like, so I’m still creating what’s next for me, you know, I’m 29 and a half. So sure.[00:08:00]
Yeah.
Porschia: Yeah. Wow. Um, I just, I think Raveena to your point, you know, when you came to the U S there wasn’t, you know, English as a second language, there wasn’t, um, you know, All of the different things and resources that children and students have today. Um, so in my mind, it sounds like, uh, seven year old Rubina was very brave, uh, in what she was doing and, and embarking on these new adventures.
Uh, so Rubina, how did you decide to become an educator? Yeah,
Rubina: you know, I have no idea. Uh, I say that in gist, but, um, it’s kind of when I talk about my career, you know, um, I was in, you know, when I obviously, I mean, I went to college. I mean, I have three degrees. So, but when I went in undergraduate, [00:09:00] I was an industrial psychology undergraduate degree.
And, um, I met one of my mentors, one of my first, first mentors, official mentors, Dr. Crane. He was a professor in the business department. And actually I was taking a business intro to business class or, you know, something like some, some class like that, very intro. And I was telling the gentleman, I remember him, Dr.
Bridges about my interests. Um, and he’s like, Oh, you got to talk. You got, you got to talk to Don. You got to talk to Don crane. Um, yeah, you need to talk to him. You would be really great at human resources. And, um, I was like, wow, okay. So here I was, I met Dr. Crane, and he had written books on human resources.
He was an arbitrator. Like, just, you know, loved all that stuff. He was just an advocate, even to this day, actually, we still keep in touch, even to this day. I don’t, I don’t think he’s working as, I don’t think he’s working anymore. But, you know, I know, [00:10:00] like, if he, if he could, he would, and he probably still is.
But, you know, Dr. Crane took me under his wing. He introduced me to human resources and, you know, like introduced me to the professional association. I got involved in that. I got to meet professionals. I got to learn. So I got indoctrinated into human resources really early at a young age, actually. And, um, and I got my job even before I even graduated in human resources, which back then it was kind of unheard of because it was kind of hard to get into that field.
And it’s just emerging. But, um, So I went into corporate America with the thought of, oh, I am going to break that glass ceiling, I’m going to, you know, break all these stereotypes that are happening, because right around that time, it was the whole glass ceiling, women, you know, all that coming out, and I was that advocate.
So I think, if I think about, think about the eight, seven year olds. [00:11:00] And who she had to become to be an advocate, not only for herself, right? To, to, to, to gain, to gain status somewhere. Um, I think that advocation, that creating equity in the world started young for me. And so going into corporate America, I really, I think I had a chip on my shoulder saying, I’m going to create this opportunity for equity.
And I felt like the profession of human resources, you know, training people, was one of those opportunities. So if you think about, like you asked me, how did I get into education? If you think about it, going into human resources, going into training was part of, like I was an educator, even, even at that time.
So, um, and then I worked for a nonprofit that was connected with education. It was economic education. And then, um, I actually created my own opportunities. Like I wanted to see, explore how would I like being a professor, uh, teaching and, you know, I really enjoyed it and the impact, the [00:12:00] purpose that I could make.
And, um, you know, I loved my students. I love my students and the fire and the desire that they have to be successful and to be leaders out in the world. So, you know, I had that opportunity to actually, um, you know, make that impact and I have been making that impact. And I continue to, you know, to be blessed to be able to make that so that that’s how I got into kind of, you know, education.
And if you think about it, that line of equity, that line of let’s advocate, um, and create opportunities for others. It’s been all the way through my career. And now I just do it through education and or, you know, through my business.
Porschia: Wow. Wow. I, I do see that running kind of like as a theme throughout your career.
You have such a rich background, Rubina. And I love how you described, you know, just marrying HR, human resources with academia. Um, so we [00:13:00] know that you are a professor and, uh, you also have your own business, but tell us, You know, what was a significant accomplishment in your career before you started Malik Global Solutions?
Rubina: Yeah, um, I think, I think for me, having discovered what one of the things was like having discovered what I was passionate about, and I knew the passion was to impact make a difference, utilize my industrial psychology degree with, you know, like really my love for business as well. So, you know, I spent a lot of time in the business school as well.
And, um, at that time, undergraduate, obviously I have an MBA as well. And, you know, my, my PhD. By the way, my PhD stands for professional hell raising diva. I just put the thing where I am, pick it up, and I just needed, as my friends say, I just needed a [00:14:00] certificate to prove to the world that I was that, you know?
Got it. So, um, when, you know, as I’m, uh, the, uh, uh, the, the pivotal points for me were one, when I, when, when I went into corporate America and knowing that what I wanted to do. And then the second pivotal moment for me was actually going into the classroom. Making an impact. You know, I teach at a, um, is it okay for me to say the university?
Yeah, yeah. So I teach at Morehouse College, which is a historic H B C U, historic Black College and University. So I teach, you know, young black men and, um, that to, to be, have the honor and the privilege to be able to utilize my experience to support the growth of these young, our future leaders. Um, really is that the other pivotal moment for me of my career, which, like I said earlier, like I’m so blessed and [00:15:00] honored to be that and to be able to do that and make that impact.
Um, so those are, those are like, those are, you know, two moments. And, um, and I will say, I’m going to cheat a little bit and give you the third, because it just came from, came to me. And that was when I got my PhD and I was on stage and you get hooded. So basically. You’ll notice all PhDs have this little hood in the back.
You know, when they’re wearing their, when they’re wearing their gala, their, their outfit. Um, and I was, so there’s, there’s two feet. They tell you to stand on those two feet, and then your advisor comes and from behind and she hoods a he or she hoods you. Mm-hmm. . I had a, she, Dr. Dr. Biman and Dr. Biman, when she hooded me, it was almost like there was just like this.
Well, this energy that just came through that just solidified that just grounded me, um, and all the work that I had done and the [00:16:00] level of commitment that I had to make an impact, you know, through a doctorate, um, through what I do, you know, for a living. And, um, yeah, that was that will always be. A very special moment for me as well.
I’m
Porschia: sure. I’m sure. So what was the defining moment that made you want to start a business, Rubina?
Rubina: Well, my family, we’re all like serial entrepreneurs, right? So, um, my dad, although he worked, you know, the rest of his soul, although he had a corporate job, he also had a side. You know, real estate, real estate business.
And then my brother has his own business. I have two brothers. Um, one of my brothers has his own business consulting software, software consulting business. And then my other brother’s an attorney. He has his own law firm. And so, you know, serial entrepreneurship has always been around. We’re always got something on the side that we’re trying to do.
Um, or, you know, just have an interest [00:17:00] in. So for me, having my own business. Is kind of extends out to my purpose and my mission. So here I am making an impact and creating leaders. And I’m really if you think about it, I’m kind of doing the same thing, but at a bigger level at a corporate level. So, you know, for me, building, building leaders.
In a corporate environment, it trickles out to impact so many. So let’s, I want, here’s, I want you to visualize this. You have one manager, he gets, let’s say he gets coaching, mentoring, training, sponsored, whatever that one manager is responsible for six other people, let’s say. So as he or she develops, becomes the empowered leader they are, who else are they going to empower?
Their six employees, subordinates, if not more. And then who are they going to empower? The people underneath them. Let’s not forget their families. [00:18:00] So for me to be able to go in, work with individuals and organizations, work with organizations to create programs to impact their leaders. For me, it’s just a wider purpose to make an impact for the greater good.
And um, that’s, that’s why, that’s why I do what I do. That’s why I have my business and that’s why I started my business. Was for the grander impact, um, that I, that I could, you know, that I could make. So
Porschia: that’s very powerful, Robina. And I love how you explain that ripple effect, right? Of how working with that one manager in some way affects the six other people and their families and the other people in the organization that they come into contact with.
Um. We know that you are a mentoring expert. Uh, and I want to just start with the basics, just in case someone listening is [00:19:00] unaware. What is a mentor?
Rubina: Yeah. So a mentor is someone that supports you, guides you to help them navigate your career. Now, you know, usually it’s defined as someone older or at a higher level than you.
To help you to navigate and support, you know, support you to navigate your and guide you through your career. Um, so that’s the formal definition, you could say, and I’m just going to push against that as well. I, you know, I don’t believe that they have to be in a higher position than you anymore. I believe that they could be, you know, the same level that could be.
below or above or, you know, at the same level as as you are to support you. I mean, we’ve evidence shows now and we have Um, you know, we have gray heads, as they say, uh, coming down to talk to millennials and getting mentored by millennials [00:20:00] and, you know, vice versa. So mentoring really is someone, I’d like to define it as someone, not someone that’s in a higher position than you, that supports you, helps you to guide you and navigate your career.
Porschia: Yeah, I love that definition, Robina. And, uh, you know that we do a lot of multi generational work. And yes, reverse mentoring is the way I’ve heard a lot of people put it, but yes, having someone who might technically be of a younger generation, mentoring someone in an older generation and how that exchange works.
So thank you for sharing that with us. Uh, how long does the typical mentorship
Rubina: Well, that’s a good question. Dr. Crane and I, I talked about my mentor, Dr. Crane and I, we, um, met when I was in college. We’re still, he’s still my mentor. Yeah, I still call him. And, um, so [00:21:00] officially, right, like, you know, let’s say In a mentoring program.
So let, let me, let me get nerdy. Okay. Can I get nerdy? Can I get academic?
Porschia: Get academic and nerdy with us, please.
Rubina: So like, if you think about behavior modification behavior, you know, like, you know, you would want to have to have that relationship for six months or more, no longer than, you know, longer than six months, ideally 12 months would be great.
Right. So as you’re meeting with your mentor, you’re learning, you’re modifying, et cetera. So there’s that. And then, then you have, um, for me, mentors, you know, can last a lifetime. They do last a lifetime. You know, you always have that connection. My mentees from, you know, they, they were undergraduate, I’m now a grand mentor.
My mentees have children now and I’m there, you know, like I’m a grand mentor. I love that. Yeah. So, um, you know, they’re still in touch. We [00:22:00] still call. I still help navigate. I still help guide. You know, I once a year like I need your smart goals. I want to know what’s happening this year. You know, you know, I want them on paper, you know, that’s still happening right like now I understand, you know, like, you know, you might be 57, and your parents still treat you like you’re seven right and I understand now right as a mentor.
To all of these young, you know, young, uh, mentees that, you know, to me, they’re still like, you know, 1920, you know, right. So although they’re in their 30s now, and they’re, you know, I’m so proud to save some of the, some of the positions that they’re in. I’m so proud of proud of them. And I would like to acknowledge that I have helped guide that right, like making sure they had a mentor sponsor, making sure that they’re getting what they need to develop themselves.
Not just for me, but, you know, from the organization. [00:23:00] So, the info, the formal, the formal answer to your question, how long, I would say six months to 12 months. No, no shorter than that. And then the informal definition would be it’s a lifetime relationship. Hopefully, you know, you’ve built that relationship with that mentor that it does last a lifetime.
And it’s such a privilege and an honor to see someone advance in their career. Over, you know, over the years.
Porschia: Absolutely. Well, the grand mentor has spoken on that. That’s right. Yes. So what are some benefits to having a mentor? I think you’ve started to kind of touch on this.
Rubina: There’s so many benefits. Uh, you know, Portia, what can I say?
You know, where, where do I start? Um, let me start on an organization level. Okay, an organization level having a mentoring program, you know, a good structured mentoring [00:24:00] program supports an organization to have more engagement. You know, retention, you’ve got employees that their morale is high because they’re like, Oh, my organization believes in me enough to get me a mentor, or I had the opportunity to have a mentor.
And then you get guidance you get to exchange knowledge that knowledge transfer, like you can’t buy that right so like being able to, to give knowledge and pass knowledge on. So there’s so much. Of that for the organization, of course, where does that all hit the bottom line profit? Right? Profit for the organization.
You want to have people around, you know, you know how much it costs to hire someone new. It’s their salary times half, right? Their salary plus half of their salary plus half their salary. Um, so wouldn’t it behoove organizations to have programs of mentoring, um, and not only to transfer knowledge [00:25:00] and not only to help guide.
And support and help individuals navigate their careers in that organization. But to have retention, to have engagement, to have high morale, of course, that’s for the company. For the individual, there’s some benefits as well. I mean, you have the experience of someone who’s been there, done that, got the t shirts, and they say, you know what, when you’re running this marathon, don’t go down this road.
Make sure you get these shoes. Make sure, like, you got your water. Um, et cetera, you know, being a marathon runner, like it was nice to have a mentor tell you things like, don’t do this, don’t do that, but to have someone to help guide you to navigate, you know, some pitfalls that you might get or to just run something by, right.
That is valuable. That’s invaluable. You can’t get that from a book. You get that from an experience. So for individuals, there’s, um, you know, there there’s [00:26:00] empowerment. There’s connection. You get to build a network as well. Although a mentor is not a sponsor, but you definitely have a network. I mean, any of my mentors, my mentees says, Dr.
Malik, I need X, Y, and Z. Okay, hold on. Go through my Rolodex, call this person, do this, do that. Um, I opened up my Rolodex for them because they are. My mentees, I trust them to give them my, um, pass them along to other, even my own mentors. I have my, by the way, I have mentors too, you know, so.
Porschia: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Uh, you know, you said a lot of great things there.
Um, also you touched on career sponsorship, which we’ve also talked about already. I think that we’re going to have to have you back again, Rubina, to talk about career sponsorship. Um, But you’re right. There are so many things that you can get in working with Venture and benefits. Uh, another [00:27:00] reason, honestly, Rubina, for me starting this podcast was I started having more people coming to me wanting me to mentor them.
And, uh, you know, sometimes it’s, it’s people that want mentorship around their business. Some people it’s their career. Uh, and I mean, just. You know, different ages and different stages of life. And so, uh, this podcast is a way for me to kind of give back, uh, you know, in a, in a small way, um, as well, uh, something that a question, I think that a lot of people ask me, and I want to throw this to you.
Um, how is mentoring different than coaching?
Rubina: Yeah, so, you know, great question. So when you’re when you’re involved in a coaching relationship, that relationship is to help develop maybe a skill set is to maybe help, um, um, you know, like, you know, maybe it’s [00:28:00] communication, you need to work on that. So you spend those sessions with your coach working through, you know, like, hey, you know, communication, working through some other, other things that, um, that support that developmental part of a skill.
Mentoring, yes, I might be giving you some guidance, like, hey, you know, Portia, we thought about reading this book, you know, it’s a really great book, it’s on communication, I read it, or maybe take this course. I might guide you, I might navigate you towards something, but I may not have the skills and the tools to help develop you.
So, you know, I, uh, it’s, it’s very much a, a developmental relationship when it comes to coaching and it really much is a more of a guidance relationship when it comes to mentoring.
Porschia: Yeah, I definitely agree. And I think that you broke that down [00:29:00] wonderfully, Rubina. Um, and to your point, and I think this piggybacks on what you were saying, sometimes with people, I explain that coaching can be a bit more structured to your point about a set clear developmental goal or skill set.
Someone has that they want to work on. Um, mentoring a lot of times could be more direct advice. Um, you Um, and then it can be broader, right? Um, instead of, you know, kind of more targeted goals that someone has in coaching. So thank you. Um, yeah. What advice would you give to someone on how to find a
Rubina: mentor?
Right. Which is a great question. People are always, you know, looking to, to find that. And, um, so think. One of the things we have to understand is that coaching I’m entering relationship as a relationship. So, you know, you have to cultivate it, you have to nurture it, it has to, you know, you got to [00:30:00] build it with trust.
And, um, my biggest suggestions would be, you know, you meet someone, so there’s several ways let me get let me get technical again. So there’s formal and informal relationships when it comes to mentoring a formal is. You work at an organization. They have a mentoring program. They’re like, okay, we’re being, uh, you know, you look like a good person for Portia because you guys mentor, right?
Like, however, they use the connection. They, they match. Okay. So that’s your formal relationship. Then there’s the informal where it’s like, you know, you and I have met. And I’m, you know, I meet you somewhere and I really like you and I’m like, wow, like that’s really like Portia. I think I could learn a lot from her.
Um, and you know, I might stay in touch with you and I might help, you know, nurture that, develop that relationship. And I might even ask you, like, do you [00:31:00] mind being a mentor or I might just can take you on as a mentor, mentee. And then, you know, one day you just realize, Oh, like I’m a mentor, I’m a mentee or I’m a mentor.
Yeah. And, um, so. Those are the, you know, those are the two ways. So one is more organic, one is more structured. And the biggest thing I can say is, for people to understand, is when they’re building the relationship, don’t just assume people want to be your mentor, one. So you want to ask, you want to be respectful.
And secondly, you want to make sure if you do, that you’re following up, that you’re doing some of the work that they’re doing. So when, you know, students come up to me as well, you know, like, they’re like, Oh, Dr. Mattingly, I want you to mentor me. I’m like, And you know what? I’ll put it in their hands. I’m like, set up a time to go meet with me.
Step number one, do they take the time to do that? No. Next. Right. And the next person comes and then they’re like, yeah, we’re gonna do this. I want to do this. I’m like, okay, well, here’s what I need you to do. I want you to come with your [00:32:00] goals, what do you want, what do you want out of the mentoring relationship, etc.
They come. And then they bring that, you know, so, um, you got to nurture, you got to nurture that relationship. And or you may not, you may not actually, you know, you may just build it organically. I have a mentor. I met him at, I heard him at speak at an event that I was I think I was speaking at as well, or I was hosting.
I can’t remember. And, uh, I was in admiration of him. He was Pakistani and very high executive. And I was like, you know, and, um, so, you know, just kept in touch with email. And, um, I would just like, Hey, I’d love to have a coffee chat with you. And it was right before COVID actually. So it was kind of funny. So we would just get on, you know, Webex, his company has Webex and we would have a coffee chat for 30 minutes.
And then, you know, but, you know, he would give me these guidance, this guidance every time. And I would take it, I would adhere [00:33:00] to it, I would think about it, contemplate it, I would send him an email, you know, and like, I just went on holiday. And one of the places that I went in some place that he recommended, so, you know, the other thing about mentoring is that, you know, Your mentors may have experiences that they want to make sure that you have that experience and explore the world, not just your little box.
So it was like, next time you go to Turkey, you know, you want to go to. Um, you, you don’t wanna go to Cappadocia. I know. I’m gonna probably say the name wrong because I did . , you know, I got a chance to go there. Just totally, you know, whole different experience of life and, um, so that was just an, a very informal relationship that got built over time.
I don’t even know if he knows that he’s my mentor, but he sure is to me. Mm-hmm. , right. But you know, every quarter. I said, I set up a call, talk to him. Um, and that’s the other thing I would do is when people have mentors is to be consistent, put it in your calendar, [00:34:00] follow up with them, whether they follow up with you or not.
It doesn’t matter. You follow up and say, Hey, how’s it going? Just wanted to give you an update. I’d love to set up a time, you know, 30 minutes. If you put in the initiative, people are going to give you that initiative back. So I kind of veered off. But, uh, so there’s the formal Transcribed And the informal ways to find a mentor.
Um, and then again, the biggest thing is you got to nurture it and you got to contribute back to that person as well. Like for me, you know, my mentor, or what he’s one of my mentors, like, you know, he’s extraordinary. He’s an extraordinary mentor, but he’s also an extraordinary manager during this whole COVID time, and there was an opportunity to nominate.
Uh, someone for, uh, an award. Guess what? I nominated him. You know, I don’t work for him, but he’s my mentor. I said that. I mentioned that. But those are the kind of things too, you know, you gotta give back to that person too. You gotta build that relationship. It’s a two-way street, so, you know. [00:35:00] Yeah. You know, like my mentee, I’m proud to say my mentee, when my grand mentor, my grand mentee was born, you know, he faced, he FaceTimes me.
Wow, you FaceTime to like, how do you think that made me feel?
Porschia: Yeah, that, that just shows the, the strength of the relationship that you have with your mentees. And, you know, for everyone listening, 1 of the last few times I actually saw Rubina in person, I was out, uh, at a restaurant in it, in the Atlanta area.
And, uh, Rubina was there across the room and, uh, I went over to say hello and she was having dinner with one of her mentees. So that’s how dedicated, uh, Rubina is to mentorship and, and really giving back. Um, Tell us more about your business, Malik Global Solutions,
Rubina: Rubina. Yeah, well, uh, Malik Global Solutions, we’re a [00:36:00] global organization that is committed to working with organizations around their human capital, helping them to facilitate, uh, workshops.
helping create programs, mentoring, sponsorship, to anything that’s going to support the growth and the productivity of their, um, of their human capital. And that of course, what does that do? It helps with their bottom line. So we facilitate workshops, we do one on one coaching, we do strategic advising, we help create programs.
So really anything in the realm of learning and development, professional development, Um, anything around around that area. So I work with ERGs. I work with one on one. I, you know, I might do a workshop. We just did a workshop on imposter syndrome last week. So I’m doing, I’m certified in several assessments of like Tomorrow I’m actually doing, doing a debrief on one of the [00:37:00] assessments that I work on.
So, you know, anything that’s going to help develop and support individual development to those emerging, my passion really is those emerging leaders. To go to that next level as well as obviously women because remember, I’m still trying to break that glass ceiling. Yeah, so, um, and especially women and diverse, diverse communities to help them to really have the skill sets to be put into the pipeline of leadership.
Right. So I believe being developed and having, um, opportunity to get professional support and learning and development. Supports to create that equity that we started talking about me as a young girl that supports that equity. So, you know, as I go up to a leadership position, I have just as much success as my counterpart because we’ve been trained.
We both have the same skills. So I think [00:38:00] organizations really need to spend time and developing upscaling, you know, their, their employees. Um, yeah, profit at the bottom line, retention, engagement, morale, um, who wouldn’t want that? That’s a great cocktail right there.
Porschia: Yeah, absolutely. And we’ll be providing a link to your website and your other social channels in our show notes so that people can find you online.
Um, also I recommend that everyone go follow Rubina on linked in. She does this, uh, post on Mondays called Malik Monday mentoring. Uh, and she’s got great tips and information there. Uh, but what is the best way for someone to get in touch with
Rubina: you, Rubina? Right. Well, um, yeah, you know, please definitely, you know, LinkedIn, Rubina f Malik.
Um, and, um, you know, my, my website is uh, ww rubina f [00:39:00] malik.com and, uh, the other is, you know, you can email me. You can email me at ruba@rubinafmaleek.com. And, um, uh, I’m, I’m not, you know, like I said, LinkedIn is a great way to, you know, connect with me. I think usually it’s the most safest and sometimes technology has weird, weird things to my website sometimes.
But, um, you know, please, yeah, you know, feel free to reach out, follow or connect. Let me know that you came from this show. So, um, you know, I can let Portia know, Hey, we made that impact. But please come listen, come and I’m, I’m writing a book too. I’m going to be working on a book around mentoring Portia. So that’s new.
Well, I have to do it.
Porschia: Yes. We got an exclusive here, uh, the career 101 podcast. So Rubina, how do you think executives or professionals can get a positive edge in their career? [00:40:00]
Rubina: Yeah. So that’s a great question. So here’s my advice for individuals to get that positive edge and, um, one is invest in yourself.
If your company’s not investing in you, if they’re not helping you to get a coach, you know what? Go get a coach yourself. Go invest in you and develop your skill sets. You do your re skilling. You do your up skilling. You do that. Invest in yourself. Secondly, Not because I love mentoring. Get a mentor. Get somebody to support you that’s been there, done that, can help you navigate.
Um, and then thirdly, find a sponsor in your organization, right? Find, making sure that people see who you are, do good work, do, be, be, create. Opportunities for for yourself to be noticed by doing good work, doing good and ethical work. So I think investment in yourself. And [00:41:00] by the way, that investment in yourself is also asking, you know, asking your organization as well.
If you can, you know, if they don’t, if they don’t, then you go invest in yourself as well. But make sure you’re asking as well. Get a mentor, get a sponsor, and always looking to see how can I go to that next level as a individual, as a professional, and not, you know, stay that status quo, because one never stops learning, by the way, although he was never officially my mentor, but one of our former presidents of my University of Georgia State undergraduate university, you know, he was like, I looked up to him and I’ll leave it at this, which is he’s like, you know, You’re young lady.
He was retired and he was going to the library and I’m like, sir, like, what are you doing? Like you’re retired. Why are you like young lady? You never stop learning the day you stop learning the day you die. Wow. Wow.
Porschia: Very powerful. Very powerful. Just Just great, great, [00:42:00] uh, nuggets of wisdom, uh, tips and insights.
And I hope everyone was listening to Rubina because she said a lot, uh, that we could use, um, in our own careers. Right. To be confident and also to be successful. Uh, we really appreciate having you with us today, Robina.
Rubina: No, the pleasure was all mine. Thank you so much for sure. Like it just, yeah, I appreciate it.
Great. Thank you.
