Maree had moved to a new organisation firstly as a consultant and her hard work led to her being offered a permanent role. She had left her previous organisation under difficult circumstances, which left her questioning her abilities at times and unable to celebrate and enjoy success. She was excited by all the new possibilities, yet unsure of how to make the most of them. All of this meant one thing, she needed help if she was going to overcome these and make inroads in her career.
She pondered her options and was vacillating between a Business Coach and a Mentor. She decided she really needed to leverage some lived experience and wanted to lean on her mentor’s knowledge and connections. Considering her options, she really wanted someone whose priority would be her and not someone with divided loyalties. Second, whilst she had some visibility in her organisation, she was reluctant to take potluck. So, for Maree, engaging an external mentor was the answer.
Maree chose to work with Kistin Gunnis, one of our globally certified and experienced mentors. They have met monthly for the last three years. Initially, they did several exercises to determine what Maree’s goals were, her skills gaps and networking needs. She then embarked on a course of action, taking her monthly meeting as the opportunity to debrief. Within three months she started to see results.
She swiftly moved from having little control over her career to having a plan with clear goals for what was next. This allowed her to be an employee embracing every opportunity thrown her way. Sometimes Maree would question her own capability, however, Kistin provided continual encouragement and support regularly telling Maree “You’ve got this!”.
Over time, her career challenges changed as did her confidence. The more senior and visible she became, the more she identified new challenges. She found her mentoring sessions invaluable to vent, brainstorm and work out how to influence leaders, peers and identify tools and strategies to resolve issues she was experiencing. She developed her leadership skills and is learning how to celebrate her career successes and not question her own skills, knowledge, and capabilities.
She impressed the leadership team and was given the opportunity to work on a cross-company secondment team reporting directly to the CEO. She performed so well she now has a global 2IC to a VP role.
However, it is not all about money and career progression. As her responsibilities grew, so too did her awareness of how her work/life balance affected her health. There was some self-reflection, some boundaries set, and, thanks to her mentor, she believes she has now achieved a satisfying work/life balance. These days, she is quite happy to carve out time for an indulgent spa day or time to catch up with friends.
Over a three-year period, Maree has achieved three pay increases, was promoted up two bands, has her dream job and is comfortable with her work/life balance. In Maree’s words, “I highly recommend mentoring as it gives you a quicker way to understand situations and manage them – because the person you are talking with has experienced it before and can give you tips and assure you that it will pass. The experience is what I feel gives those with mentors the edge and capability to rise above.”
From Kistin’s perspective, most of her mentees have the skills needed to be successful. As a mentor, she works with them to “give themselves permission” to use the skills, knowledge and experience they already have, to supercharge their careers. She loves to be the cheer squad and the supporter and seeing those she works with, achieving success.
Interested in learning more about our Mentoring services? Check out Tailored Mentoring.
