In March we celebrate International Women's Day and Women's History Month. 

CIOL Council Member Rasha Alajouz writes on the 2026 themes of 'give to gain' and 'creating a sustainable future', drawing on a coaching mindset and her experiences of mentoring, entrepreneurship and running a business with-and-for-women, all of which led her to write her inspirational book: 'Standing Tall Without Heels' 

March is Women’s History Month—and for me, it’s not only a celebration. It’s a reflective pause. A moment to notice what women are already doing: shaping professions, strengthening standards, and building futures that last - often quietly, often consistently and with real impact.

This year’s theme, 'Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future', feels especially relevant to the language professions. Because language work is sustainability work. Translators, interpreters, teachers, assessors and linguists carry meaning across cultures, support access and inclusion, and help communication stay human, across borders, systems and generations.

At CIOL, we don’t need to tell women to “step forward.” Women already lead at every level. So, the more useful question becomes: how do we keep expertise moving: shared, renewed, and strengthened over time?

One of the most practical, high-impact ways is mentoring, especially when it’s done with a coaching mindset.

Mentoring with a coaching mindset: not advice-first, but clarity-first

Traditional mentoring is often imagined as an expert passing down wisdom. But when mentoring is shaped by a coaching mindset, it becomes less about instruction and more about unlocking insight, strengthening judgement, and supporting ownership.

In practice, that means the mentor isn’t there to “fix” someone. They’re there to create a professional space where a mentee can think better.

A coaching-minded mentor:

• asks strong questions before offering opinions
• listens for what’s underneath the issue (values, patterns, blind spots)
• helps the mentee name options and choose intentionally
• supports accountability without control
• holds boundaries clearly, so the relationship stays sustainable and professional

This approach doesn’t dilute expertise, it makes expertise transferable. Because instead of giving someone the answer, you help them build the thinking that will serve them again and again.

Why this matters in the language professions

Many language professionals work freelance or in small teams. That can be empowering - and isolating.

It also means a lot of professional growth happens alone: alone with decisions, alone with ethical dilemmas, alone with client boundaries, alone with a rapidly changing landscape.

Mentoring brings that work into conversation, and a coaching mindset makes that conversation truly developmental.

It helps mentees strengthen the “invisible skills” that define excellence in our field:

• judgement and decision-making
• ethical reasoning
• boundaries with clients and stakeholders
• confidence in pricing, positioning and scope
• adapting to change (including AI tools and shifting assessment models)

And mentoring isn’t only for beginners. Some of the most valuable mentoring happens when a capable professional is at a transition point: stepping into leadership, diversifying their work, returning after a break, or recalibrating direction.

A coaching mindset supports those transitions by helping the mentee build clarity, not just gather information.

What mentors gain - without burnout

Women often mentor while holding full lives. So, mentoring has to be designed in a way that feels sustainable.

When mentoring is structured well, mentors frequently say it gives back in three clear ways:

1. Clarity
   Helping someone think through complexity sharpens your own thinking. It makes your values, standards and decision processes more explicit, and often more refined.
2. Continuity
   You’re contributing to the strength of the profession by helping good practice travel forward, through real conversation, not just written guidelines.
3. Connection
   Mentoring expands networks in both directions. Mentors gain insight into emerging tools, new ways of working, and fresh perspectives. Mentees gain context, professional memory, and steadier footing.

And importantly: mentoring with a coaching mindset does not mean emotional over-extension. It can be warm and human while staying professional, scoped, and boundaried.

Sustainability needs boundaries: scope, time, and agreement

If we want sustainable futures, we have to model sustainability in how we lead.

Mentoring doesn’t need to be open-ended, intensive, or heavy. The healthiest mentoring frameworks are time-bound, clearly scoped, and mutually agreed. They respect the mentor’s time and energy, and they protect the mentee’s autonomy.

This is also where Standing Tall Without Heels comes in:

• Leadership that doesn’t rely on performance, over-giving, or proving.
• Leadership that’s built on presence, clarity, and earned confidence.

A coaching mindset strengthens that kind of leadership - because it helps women lead without carrying everyone, while still supporting others powerfully.

CIOL Mentoring: a professional framework for real growth

And that’s something all CIOL members can be part of all year round via CIOL Mentoring.

CIOL Mentoring is designed to support professional growth with structure and respect. It provides a time-bound framework that honours mentors’ expertise and autonomy, while offering mentees reflective, informed support, without assumptions.

• Mentoring is not an obligation. It’s professional leadership.
• Being mentored is not weakness. It’s commitment to growth.

This month, whether you choose to mentor, be mentored, or simply reflect on the mentors who shaped your own path, it’s a timely moment to recognise mentoring for what it truly is: a sustainable way to lead, and a practical way for women to support one another in standing tall, with or without heels.

Rasha Alajouz, FCIL CL is a Comfort Zone Mentor and Coach who supports leaders, professionals, and organizations in navigating change with clarity, emotional intelligence, and strengths-based growth. She is a culture-bridging entrepreneur, Fellow and Chartered Linguist (FCIL, CL), and a Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL).

Rasha is also a motivational author and speaker with over two decades of cross-cultural professional experience. For more see rashaalajouz.com or contact Rasha at [email protected]

Views expressed on CIOL Voices are those of the writers and may not represent those of the wider membership or CIOL.