For more than 20 years, I’d coached youth soccer. I took immense pleasure in developing, guiding and motivating young players, both on and off the field. In turn, their enthusiasm energized me.

Six years ago, unfortunately, I had to put my coaching on hold to deal with my mounting responsibilities as CIO of a growing national law firm. But when a series of mergers led to a significant increase in my department’s workload, I saw a new way to help young people learn and develop their potential. I initiated a summer college internship program to fill the resource void and, at the same time, help young women pursue careers in IT. At Nixon Peabody, only about 40 percent of the IT staff are women, and this percentage continues to shrink as it gets harder to find women with technical skills. Mentoring female summer interns, I thought, could draw more women into my department and into IT. I had no idea what lessons were in store for me over the next several years.

It was as if I were stepping onto the soccer field for the first time in my life.

What I Learned from Anna

Anna, our first summer intern, joined the department in 2001 after she completed her first year as a computer science major at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her first week of orientation included an overview of the firm and its technology tools. Her first assignment, reporting to the supervisor of desktop support, tested her knowledge of hardware and put her on the front line with the internal customers. Anna adjusted quickly and appeared to enjoy the work. She was technically competent, a natural. But in checking with both her and her supervisor, I learned that something wasn’t right.

The supervisor felt Anna was too shy, and the independent nature of the work did not suit her. Anna, in turn, wanted more challenges and more feedback, and she wanted to be more connected to the organization through group projects.

I dropped by Anna’s office one afternoon and asked her to join me for ice cream at the mall next to our building. As we chatted about her sports activities from high school, her shyness melted. I learned quite a bit about how differently her generation views school, work and careers. We sat for two hours, laughing about stories from my generation (for instance, how my friends thought it would be funny to shuffle a sequence of computer punch cards so that my program would not run correctly). Her stories were similar in tone, except the tools and venues were IM, chat rooms and cell phone photos.