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MENTORING MODEL
In her book,
Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead
, Sheryl
Sandberg spends an entire chapter discussing how important it is for
women to mentor other women and emphasizing that women men-
toring other women should occur more frequently than it does.
But for Lennarson, who genuinely loves people, mentoring has
always come naturally.
While at Bankers, Lennarson served as a personal and professional
mentor to Marie Young, who began her career in the industry fresh
out of college.
“She took the time to get to know me and helped me find my top
strengths and skills and make them shine,” Young says of Lennarson.
“As a recent college grad, I found myself lacking self-confidence, and
Sherri helped me focus on the things I did best. She also allowed me
to take on projects autonomously and provided positive reinforcement
along the way.”
Lennarson is now modeling the magic of mentoring through her
relationship with her niece, Abigail Brown, who recently joined the
industry in sales.
“It has been so incredible for me to see her get involved in this
industry,” Lennarson says of her niece. “I am transformed and invigor-
ated when I work with somebody new to our industry. It really
reminds me of all the reasons why I believe we offer the most engag-
ing, most cost-effective and most results-producing form of marketing
and advertising.”
Mentoring is not just about what you reap but also about what
you sow, Lennarson emphasizes. “As we succeed, we have an obligation
to pass on our knowledge and experience from one generation to the
next,” she says. “If we don’t, where will our industry be in 10, 20 or 50
years? We want it to be strong and healthy. So we need to cultivate
that within the industry.”
Lennarson’s philosophy seems contrary to the scarcity-driven
mindset that is prevalent in other industries such as finance, where the
“I’ll be gone you’ll be gone” philosophy took shape, made famous by
Wall Street hedge fund managers who lacked accountability.
“Sharing is one of the great hallmarks of our industry,” Lennarson
says. “You see it all the time—colleagues helping colleagues, competi-
tors actually helping each other. The great thing about our industry is
that any company is a potential client for us, so there is no way that
one of us could write all the business out there. So why not help
everybody to be successful? We all have something to share, and we
have an obligation to share it as well.”
Brittany Glenn is a former associate editor for
PPB
magazine and a
former full-time freelance writer. Currently, she serves as corporate commu-
nications manager at a national mortgage lender.
Sherri Lennarson
(center), who chaired the PPAI Board of Directors in 2009, is pictured with board members during a break at a strategic planning
board retreat.
SEPTEMBER 2015 •
PPB
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