Mentoring Works

  In Part 1: Start With Why, I wrote about discussing the strategic direction for mentoring with your senior decision-makers. This gives us high-level aims and allows us to focus on the purpose of mentoring and the people that we want to participate. Before we can specify objectives and outcome to measure, we need to […]

  This is the first of a four-part series that will help you design a successful mentoring program.   Everyone has their own ideas about mentoring and expectations can differ wildly. Unrealistic expectations about what mentoring can or will do – on an organisational or individual level – can leave people disappointed, disillusioned and disengaged. […]

  75% of the fastest growing occupations require science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills. The variety of professional roles open to graduates is much greater than those accessible through year 12 completion. Yet girls and women are severely under-represented in STEM subjects at school and university. That means fewer women in occupations requiring STEM […]

  At the end of a workshop I invite participants to take this 30 day challenge:   Every day, at least once a day, stop and reflect: What did I do well? Write it down, especially if you enjoyed it, especially if you felt strong when you did it! At the end of 30 days, […]

  People’s ability to learn effectively at work is essential. It is critical in the workplace as Baby Boomers give way to Gen X, Gen Y and now iGen (the internet generation, born 1986-2006, as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics). Average length of employment is now 3.3 years per job, that means up […]

  Discretionary income is what’s left of your pay after taxes, bills and basic cost of living expenses. How you use the money left is up to you. Discretionary learning is up to you, too. It’s not essential for your job, it’s not dictated or handed to you by your employer. Like your money, it […]

  Would you pass the marshmallow test?   It’s about delayed gratification. Can you resist the temptation of an immediate small treat, on the promise of getting twice as much if you wait?   Walter Mischel, of Stanford University, studied nursery school children (4-5 year olds) to see what they did when offered a choice […]

  We all live inside a bubble. Our own world view, attitudes, values, assumptions, beliefs, self-image and perspective on life. Our bubble filters what we see, what we hear, what we think and how we feel. We reinforce it when we’re around people like us. We enjoy the echo chamber of opinions like our own. […]

Here are 7 Fun Facts about the Eiffel Tower and how you can use them to strengthen your mentoring program:   1.The base pillars are oriented to the four points of the compass. The base pillars of a mentoring program are: Planning your program, Promoting it, Preparing your participants and having a Program of support. […]

  Stephen Covey said: “If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” The “right wall” being a metaphor for our most important goal.   In a recent group mentoring session, we were discussing a question one of us had raised. We […]