Take Two – Distance Education

 

Anthony Vassallo is the business manager at Redeemer Lutheran College in Brisbane. His mentee, Jennifer Bisley, is based in Bundaberg as regional manager, curriculum support (North Coast region) at Queensland’s Department of Education and Training. Despite being 380km apart, they have been talking together each fortnight for the past year to set goals, discuss challenges and share ideas. Vassallo says mentoring is “a valuable refresher course” and Bisley believes it’s an essential part of professional and personal growth.

 

Why did you join the mentor program?

Jennifer Bisley: Most leaders have mentors – some have more than one. I wanted someone totally impartial to talk to on a professional level who had nothing to gain from our conversations. When the opportunity presented itself, it was great timing because I was experiencing enormous changes at work. Anthony wasn’t playing in my sandpit, so I could say what was on my mind.

Anthony Vassallo: I worked for many years in German banks where they had traineeships, and I was a mentor then. I found it very satisfying to help people in their career. When the opportunity came up again, I decided to become involved.

 

What is the value of a mentoring relationship?

JB: When you commit to having a mentor, you commit time to do something for yourself. It means you can’t take that phone call or check your email during the hour that you’ve dedicated to mentoring. It’s an investment in your personal and professional growth and in your overall wellbeing.

AV: Discussions generally start with leadership and management strategy, and then evolve into personal reflection, which is important for any leader. My discussions with Jenny included the things she wanted to achieve as a person; hopefully that was rewarding for her.

 

What did you learn from each other?

JB: What didn’t I learn! I learned practical applications for my role. Through Anthony, I was able to look at challenges or problems through a different lens.

AV: Jenny thinks a lot about the kind of leader she wants to be and this made me think what kind of leader I am and how I can improve.

 

What did you get out of the program?

JB: I was able to establish clear goals and values. I also learned that I’m my harshest critic and the mentoring relationship involves a lot of self-reflection.

AV: Mentoring is like a refresher course. When you’re recommending books or papers or TED talks, you revisit them yourself and it helps to refresh your ideas.

 

Would you recommend the mentor program to others?

JB: Absolutely. It has been a key component of my leadership journey. Everyone should have a mentor.

AV: It’s been very good for me and I’d certainly recommend it. Like a lot of things in life, it’s good for you but you don’t often make time for it. If you’re going to do it, be strict with yourself about making the time.

Building resilience and confidence

When Vicky came back to her Victorian State Government position after maternity leave, it was tough. Getting back in there and leading her team again required renewed confidence in her abilities and a strong mental attitude.

Marion King FIML

Vicky was matched with Marion King FIML, from Conocer Consulting, specialising in Workforce Planning and HR Consulting. This turned out to be a very successful team relationship, where the opportunity to really get to what mattered and turn around perceptions worked exceptionally well.

 

Why did you join IML’s mentoring program?

Vicky: As part of an organisational leadership program, I identified mentoring would be beneficial. It seemed like a better long- term option to look externally and focus on less technical skills and more widely at management skills.

Marion: I think it’s a very valuable opportunity for me to use my experience as a leader to guide others. It’s great that IML offers this service, as it’s not always possible to find the right match within an organisation.

 

What did you get out of the experience?

Vicky: After a year of maternity leave, my confidence was low and my self-doubt was high. It was great that I had the opportunity to take time to explore different areas I felt I was weak in. It made me feel more confident about my skills and abilities. I also gained a better understanding of what I want from my career, time to reflect on my skills and work on my weaknesses. This isn’t something I have time for generally, so it felt like a luxury.

Marion: It was very rewarding. Vicky and I had great rapport from the very beginning, it was a very good match. She was very open about what she wanted from the program, where she was to begin with and where she wanted to go.

 

What did you learn from each other?

Vicky: Don’t be afraid to take risks. Consider what are the consequences of something not going to plan and weigh up whether it is worth taking the risk.

Marion: Work life can be pretty tough and is rarely predictable.  Vicky is very emotionally intelligent and uses these skills to be a very aware manager and understand what her staff are going through. I also learnt about some issues that are facing the public sector generally.

 

Would you recommend the mentoring program to others?

Vicky: Yes, it’s a great opportunity for self-reflection, which is something you don’t generally have time to do. Do it with an open mind and don’t be afraid to openly and honestly tackle issues that may be holding you back.

Marion: Absolutely. It’s a rare opportunity to really discuss openly where you are in your work, (and personal) life and to get some practical advice on how to build a pathway to success.

Take Two – Second Sight

Dr Christopher Clarke FIML, manager of corporate safety at Melbourne Water, was inspired to push his career envelope by mentor Ron Skaff FIML, an organisational change practitioner and director at Forma & Associates. They began meeting in Melbourne last year.

 

Why did you join IML’s mentor program?

Christopher Clarke (pictured right): I joined for the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of someone who sits within a senior leadership team and to learn from their experience. Also, I wanted to discuss my long-term goals and how I could reach them. I wanted to have trusted and personal conversations and expand my range of contacts and look at innovative ways of career development.

Ron Skaff (left): I actually saw a tweet the other day where some millennial was saying that mentoring is dead. I didn’t respond but I wanted to. I have been mentoring for a good portion of my adult life. I was coaching CEOs when I first came to Australia [from the US] and I’ve been a Member of IML since 1994. In the last couple of years, I realised that with all my commercial acumen I should be giving back to IML because of all the relationships it has opened up to me.

 

What did you learn from each other?

CC: Within the first five minutes of speaking to Ron, I knew he was the right fit for me. It didn’t take me long to see Ron has a brilliant strategic mind. His was a great mind to tap into. Although we were talking about career development, we’d also dive into life in general.

RS: You need to separate the person from the career. Chris has a strong family values anchor and I believe my family values play the same important role for me. He would tell me the things he was doing with his family and how that made him feel in terms of his personal life and career, and that was helpful for me because my family was following some similar paths. It helped me see where my focus should be, which was with my family.

 

What is the value of a mentoring relationship?

CC: Without the mentoring program I may not have been able to meet someone like Ron. He definitely inspired me to push the envelope in my chosen career field.

RS: Part of my role as a mentor is to develop a roadmap with my mentee about their career. Chris had just finished his PhD in safety and was looking at transformational leadership. I enjoy the personal satisfaction of knowing I played a role in the growth of a protégé.

 

What did you get out of the IML Mentor program?

CC: We workshopped various professional development tools. We did a career SWOT and also looked at my strengths in my personal life, which I hadn’t done before. We were able to correlate the two and I got some great insights. Ron also sent me some reading material to discuss when we caught up.

RS: Sharing my motivation and seeing the motivation of others is enjoyable. Mentoring allows you to see unique perspectives and a diversity of thought.

 

Would you recommend it to others?

CC: If you want to work closely with someone to improve your career and personal progression, absolutely.

RS: Anyone who believes they’d like to mentor should do so. The experience delivers a deeper learning outcome, different than using the internet or reading a book to understand new leadership approaches.

 

Take Two – A Firm Guiding Hand

Solicitor Brooke Reardon MIML can’t thank mentor Chris Blair FIML enough for helping her pluck up the courage to start her own business

 

Brooke Reardon MIML, principal practitioner at Your Law Firm Horsham, joined AIM’s mentor program to help steer her through a life-changing career move. She was teamed up with Chris Blair FIML, Enterprise Manager at legal documentation company Topdocs, and credits his guidance with helping her take a leap forward.

 

Why did you join AIM’s mentor program?

BROOKE REARDON: I was at a crossroads in my career. I was working as a solicitor at a law firm and decided to join the mentoring program because I felt like I needed guidance to help make some big decisions. Chris was instrumental in building my confidence to not only start my own business early this year but also to join the Your Law Firm franchise.

CHRIS BLAIR: I’ve been involved in mentoring one way or another for a long time. The first experience was at least 20 years ago when I was working for big global company and they introduced a mentoring program. I loved it. I always had mentors earlier in my career, not that they were probably called mentors in those days!

 

What did you get out of the experience?

BR:  Have you read the book Who Moved My Cheese? It’s an oldie but a goodie. I think Chris was a partner on the journey of looking for the new cheese for me! He helped me explore different options and put me in contact with people who could also help. He never made the choices for me but he helped me uncover different options that may or may not have been suitable for me.

CB: Brooke is a really smart lawyer and a really nice person. I’m a helper by nature and I like coaching and encouraging. Mentoring provides a total support system and it’s the kind of trusted relationship that I thrive on.

 

What did you learn from each other?

BR: Chris was very approachable, very considerate, very knowledgeable and very quickly understood my position and where I was seeking to go. I don’t think I would be where I am now without having Chris’ guidance along the way. He was woven into my career story from the minute he became my mentor, so when I tell people about my journey of how I became a practitioner, the AIM mentoring program and Chris himself are a key part of that story.

CB:  Brooke was really stuck in a difficult position. It was inspiring to see her make a decision for her career that will have life-long positive impacts. It’s not just, “Hey, I got this little promotion”. What Brooke did will change her life forever, and that’s really powerful.

 

Would you recommend the mentor program to others?

BR: Absolutely. Without a mentor, you can live a bit in a vacuum because you’ve got no one to bounce things off. It also increases your confidence when you’ve got someone else giving you feedback on your ideas. The whole experience was exceptionally valuable to me. It was life-changing.

CB:  Definitely. If somebody needs to have an external second opinion, coach, mentor, or whatever you want to call it, so long as they’re matched up well, it can provide a real helping hand. You may also gain a lifelong friend at the end of the day.