Moving Mentor Moments: What Kate, Reese and Jacinda Want Us To Know
What a gift for National Mentoring Month. Three powerful viral videos shared everywhere on social. Three mentor moments offered with insight and intent by actors Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon and Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.
First, Kate Winslet with a young reporter who confessed at an Avatar: The Way of Water press junket that this was her first-ever interview.
"This is your first time doing it?” Winslet asked the girl standing nervously before her. “Okay, well, guess what? When we do this interview, it's going to be the most amazing interview ever. And do you know why? Because we've decided that it is going to be. So, we've decided right now—me and you—that this is going to be a really fantastic interview. And you can ask me anything that you want, and you don't have to be scared. Everything is going to be amazing. Okay? You’ve got this.”
You’ve got this.
Three words said with energy and empathy, and in that moment Winslet gave courage and confidence to next gen girls everywhere.
Next, Reese Witherspoon. Responding on TikTok to a young woman contemplating a career change and asking where to find confidence, Witherspoon instructed: “You don’t have to have the confidence to think you’re qualified. You just have to have the confidence to begin. Because once you get there and you start doing it, and you start doing a good job – even if you make mistakes – you’re gonna build confidence. So don’t wait until you have all the confidence in the world to start something. Just do it.”
Just do it.
Three more words, uttered with practical frankness and a direct gaze into the camera. In that moment, Witherspoon leveled with all of us who have considered a pivot at one time or another and urged us forward.
And then, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, and the impact of her mentor moment may well be the longest-lasting. Haltingly, but with composure and candor, Ardern announced her resignation as the leader of New Zealand because “with such a privileged role comes responsibility - the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice."
“I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focused," Ardern added. "And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go.”
Click to play.
Fill your tank.
Recognize burnout before it happens, and do something about it. Keep your eye on the ball, and pick it up when it's time.
Why were these three responses so impactful for those not even in the room? Why did we share and reshare the moments with power arm emojis instead of hearts?
Because of the no-drama way each of these women approached her moment.
Whether on stage at a movie press event, on TikTok answering a question, or at a podium addressing a nation, all three women used the microphones in front of them to empower other women and girls.
They knew girls were listening.
They recognized that each situation was potentially fraught with emotion and, knowing the power their words could hold, they steered the other way. All three women trained their eyes on an audience, and with calm, clear voices laid it out there.
You don’t have to be scared. You’ve got this.
You need only the confidence to begin. Just do it.
You can be your own type of leader. Fill your tank.
These mentor moments matter. One gave us the courage to try something for the very first time. One imbued us with the confidence to pivot. And one showed us how to say when with grace.
All of them said, in one way or another, I believe in you…so you should too.
Unfailingly right for girls to hear, take to heart and apply to future goals. Pretty perfect for National Mentoring Month, too.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRA: Three new Forbes articles featuring Être Girls in a series on #mentorship you won’t want to miss, all from the epic Dana Brownlee: Career Mentorship Stops Confidence Slide for Teen Girls, Study Finds (Jan. 11); Five Pieces of Practical Career Advice From Uniquely Successful Women (Jan. 13); and Four Female Pioneers Share the Secrets to Breaking Barriers (Jan. 17).
