Tag: Mentor

Conversations with my Aurora mentor are confidential, but here are a few things that I’ve learned through my meetings with her over the course of the programme.

Be open to opportunities

Career paths can be quite serendipitous and sometimes we find our way to leadership through unexpected routes. Not having a concrete plan isn’t necessarily going to prevent you from progressing, as I had feared at the start of the programme. It can even leave you open to opportunities that you may not have seen if you were laser-focused on a specific goal.

Seeing is believing

Sometimes you need to see others taking steps into roles or positions that you may not have known existed. I think this is very applicable for me, as understanding the role/team that I’m applying for is important for me to take that step.

Conversations lead to opportunities

Conversations with others in your organisation (including with those more senior than yourself) might help you learn about things that can help your development. Being open with others about what sort of experiences you’re looking for, means when they hear about a relevant opportunity, they’re more likely to mention it to you.

Leadership is a pathway

Leadership is a ongoing journey not a destination, one that evolves as we move through it, shaped by our experiences. Even in the last few months, circumstances have shifted which could impact on what opportunities I might see in the near future. Recognising that it will continue to evolve, and reflecting and mapping how things are for me now, could help me be more resilient and inform how I might lead in future.

Recognise and comment

This was something modelled by my mentor that I’d like to emulate myself. When I’d made an thoughtful comment or been proactive in my learning, she would comment on it positively. Whilst I felt a little awkward being complimented, it was really nice to hear what I was doing well. It is something I’ll try and do myself when working with others.

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There’s no requirement for my mentor and I to stay in touch now that Aurora is over, but she has very kindly agreed to continue to meet with me every 3 months. We’ve already had our first post-Aurora session and I’ve been excited to talked to her about things that I’ve already implemented in my work life. She’s encouraged me to make the most of some opportunities and I’ve been able to ask her about things that she’s been working on too.

The Aurora mentor experience has been a positive one for me, and I’ve been lucky to have someone who’s been willing to engage, listen, and support me in expanding my career horizons.

Having heard from other Aurorans about this, naturally I was a little nervous when I met with my Aurora mentor yesterday for the first time. Our meeting was complicated by the fact that I had been around someone with a cold and (whilst feeling fine) I was worried I might pass something on. I masked up, and we met in a campus café near to her office.

I needn’t have worried. My mentor was lovely and whilst our conversation was a little silted at first, that felt like any getting-to-know-you phase. We talked about our career journeys, and I voiced some of the concerns that had been worrying me about my (lack of) career plan. Even in this initial meeting she offered reassurance and some useful tips on ways to develop, without having a bigger plan in place. By the end it felt like she understood my motivations and career concerns and was looking forward to helping me explore some possible solutions.

Ahead of the session I had looked at the Mentor resources provided by Aurora and was worried that if we’d needed to go through these, then it’d have been a very abrupt conversation and I’d not know how to succinctly answer many of the questions! I’d find it hard to discuss in a one hour meeting such big questions as “What is the role of challenge, honesty and amount of disclosure that is appropriate and relevant?”

The many questions were grouped by four themes and whilst we may not have discussed things explicitly like the nature of confidentiality, we did cover all of the themes to a certain extent.

• Personal – Build rapport by introducing yourself and gain an understanding of the background of the mentee.
• Professional – Discuss the roles and responsibilities for both mentor and mentee. Define the scope of the relationship.
• Procedural – Define and agree expectations for meetings, paperwork and timings.
• Psychological – Discuss how you can best work together. Agree rules of confidentiality, giving feedback and how sessions will run.

I’m somewhat sceptical of the advice to follow that structure. Whilst I understand that the drawing of clear boundaries is obviously something that is beneficial to both parties, it does feel somewhat forced. Perhaps it’s something that if we practice will become more normalised, but until then, I’m happy for these things to evolve in a more naturalistic way. I’m already looking forward to meeting with my mentor again, both to reflect on my career plan and on the Aurora sessions.