Learning comes from various things and in many ways, and oftentimes, how we differ from each other helps us widen our knowledge and understanding of the space we live in and move around. Such can be said for mentor Emma Duffy, Learning Director at ProActive Training, and mentee Hayden Brass, Founder and Managing Director of Zea.
Mentor Emma Duffy and mentee Hayden Brass share their mentorship experience and learnings from it.
Other than running a business and being business owners, they haven’t necessarily spotted their similarities or commonalities. But despite having different businesses, they found themselves at a very good start when they met for the first time at the Mentorship training.
“Working together in the training session that Carlo ran, I thought that was a really strong start to the whole program for us as I feel that we got to know each other pretty well and understand what we both wanted out of the program and that we at least got a framework to build on from that,” said Emma.
Hayden concurred, “We have very different businesses, which are, in some ways, what you’d want. Although we had no common ground for this, I think we've learned a lot from each other in that way as well because we've had different experiences and different industries, which has been really great. So, it's been a great element of the mentorship.”
He continued, “We started off really strong catching up almost the same time every month and being able to come away with different viewpoints that I have not necessarily thought of.
We have quite different businesses, quite different lives, and quite different ages as well. A lot of different elements allowed for really valuable insights and learnings from that perspective. I think that just having those differences made it really valuable in making me think outside the box and think about things differently.”
The whole journey has also provided them with more insightful experiences and new learnings. For Emma, it has encouraged her to think in an unusual way. She narrated a time when she was frustrated with not being able to give training ideas to Hayden because what her business did could not necessarily fit his needs or his team’s needs.
“After our last catch-up when it came up again, I thought, ‘Well, I'm not going to walk away and stay frustrated or feel like I don’t have an answer in my area of expertise.’ In fact, it has prompted me to come back to my desk and actually do a whole lot of research into various apps and system processes that are available in the marketplace and find ways so that when we catch up next, I could go back to Hayden and say, ‘Well, these are some ideas that you could take into your business and use in your business.’ So, it's really stretched me to think a little bit differently about what businesses need in terms of training. It's then pushed me and my business partner to really reconsider how we set up some of our own compliance requirements in the business and how we could potentially develop them into a type of software that we could take to the marketplace. It's a huge gift that that sort of thinking pushed me to do something really different for me, my day-to-day work, and our business. I would never have done research on apps and processes otherwise,” Emma explained.
On Hayden’s part, he has gained a lot of ideas and perspectives from their mentoring sessions throughout the year. “What happened was with the first six months, and they're very well aligned, we had these three sets of goals which we set around leadership, etc. I think for me it was a lot about being able to come to the table with a little leadership challenge or a hiring challenge and then hearing a perspective that's quite different and new. That's been really valuable. It's also been good in that we've been able to bounce different ideas off each other within a meeting. I'd come either pre-planned, and we've done it before, and mentioned a few key things that we wanted to cover. It's given us a chance to reflect on it and review it, whether it's a staff leaving or a staff deciding to ask for a big wage increase or whatever challenge it might be that I’m having. It's just that back and forwards and getting that new perspective on whatever it might be.”
For the duration of their mentorship journey, both Emma and Hayden enjoyed their interactions and the key takeaways they get from their conversations.
Emma shared, “I really enjoyed the consistent and regular catch-ups. Hayden's business has gone through amazing growth in the last 12 months in the time that we've been working together. It was really interesting to see and learn about that. That was I guess one of the main things, from my point of view. It was just great. I've really enjoyed those conversations and I walked away each time hoping I might have added a little bit of value.”
As for Hayden, “It was a very broad goal that I've set in becoming a better leader. I think it doesn't come down to one or two things. It comes down to a multitude of things that have happened in the mentorship program and also in the growing of the business and coinciding with one another to get that. It's a long way to go, but definitely, I think I've achieved that in that 12-month period. A lot of it comes down to little bits and pieces that have come together to make a big difference in mindset or ways that we are reacting to different scenarios. It's all been really valuable from that perspective.”
And what’s the secret behind a successful mentorship experience that others may consider when getting into mentorship?
“Commitment is definitely one of the biggest ones,” Hayden remarked. “You need to go in there with the commitment that you're going to do this on top of your normal workload and normal forum and whatever else you've got going on. The other aspect would be to be really clear on what you want to get out of it when you're applying for it, who the type of mentor that you're looking for, and what is the specific area that you want to get the most value from because if you're very specific on that, that helps the team to assign a good mentor to you. I think it’s being very specific on those and differentiating it to what you want to get out of your forum or other learnings or whatever that might be and have a really specific goal for your mentor-mentee relationship because that can make a big difference as well.”
Emma was in agreement on the importance of commitment to make one’s mentorship journey a valuable one. “I completely agree. With preparation, just to do a bit of thinking beforehand to maximize the one hour, Hayden was really disciplined about contacting, setting the meeting time up, and turning up. We were there for one hour and then we were gone. It didn't linger on. There was really a focused time commitment.”
EO Melbourne’s Mentorship Program is one of the significant programs of the organisation that members can take advantage of and benefit from. Each experience is different and unique, and the value it can provide to both the mentor and the mentee can be priceless.