“As a mentor, it feels great knowing I'm helping to bring about change”
Ben Reeve, a partner in Oliver Wyman financial services practice, is a mentor on the 30% Club’s Mission Gender Equity cross-company programme, which Moving Ahead delivers. This is what Ben has learned from mentoring someone in a completely different sector.
It was really important to me to be given the opportunity to help high-achieving women, as this is a task that often falls on the shoulders of other high-achieving women, and I think it's crucial that men and women play an equally strong role in mentoring.
I'm in the financial services sector, my current mentee is in health and life sciences. My initial reaction when I found out who I'd be paired with was, ‘How can I help somebody working in a completely different environment and context?’ But as we worked through, it became clear that [cross-company mentoring] is actually a benefit.
And so obviously there's very little overlap between us. But the fact my mentee works in a completely different industry means we can really focus on the individual and their ideas rather than their industry. You can add to that too, by sharing your perspective, or by asking the right question at the right time.
And mentoring relationships are definitely a two-way street. I'm confident in saying I’ve gotten as much out of this as any of the individuals I've mentored. Hopefully that's intended! And certainly, it's a great way for me to sharpen and broaden those mentoring skills I use in my job today.
FUELLING IDEAS
I'm a partner in our financial services consulting business – I help figure out challenges that clients need us to solve. I've also had mentors myself, and I’m very cognizant of the importance of them. I always think you can't really have that quality of breakthrough just ruminating on your own. It doesn't necessarily take somebody with massive ideas that were beyond those you could have; it’s about pouring a little bit of ignition fluid on ideas they’d like to take forward, and helping them to really focus on and execute them.
I think it's important that my sector invests in this kind of mentoring. We have our own challenges [in the industry] with diversity at every level – things I think all financial services firms are working through. But to really make them stick, and get those outcomes at the very top leadership levels, is going to take some time. This is at least one way [for the sector] to do more than just offer bold words. It isn’t just about committing to help high-potential women in your own organisation – but any organisation. All men at all levels in all organisations should be focused on gender equity as a concept and a target. To feel like I'm playing at least a small part in that for one individual and getting to see the end result, is really rewarding.
GROWING THE PIPELINE
Inclusion is so important because work is such a big part of our day-to-day existence. Even just a small inkling, a marginal sense that ‘maybe I don't belong here, that the people in my organisation in some ways are biased against me’ has major detrimental health effects on people. An inclusive environment is incredibly important for people's wellbeing and their mental health. So I think [cross-company] programmes like this can definitely help with talent retention. It isn't every day you get the opportunity to have these kinds of interactions across a wide range of industries. That kind of exposure is helpful – and something people often leave to go and seek out in another industry or line of business if they feel like they're missing out. It’s also a reminder of just how widely applicable the skills you've been developing in your current job are across other industries.
Programmes like this also help to build talent pipelines, because these are the issues staff care about. I think gone are the days when you can attract the best and brightest just by offering them more money. You've got to really have a mission they connect with.
This isn't just about one-on-one sessions either. There's a huge amount of work that goes into these Moving Ahead programmes, which you see as you get involved in the mentoring scheme – a whole series of networking sessions, discussions and skills. I'm a real fan of the Moving Ahead Summit series – it gets some of the most compelling, engaging speakers I've seen on these topics, and there's always a novel way of making sure it's having the biggest impact. It isn't just about getting the best speakers – even the way they stage the warm-up acts between the sessions really ensures everybody's engaged and tuned into the right mindset for the discussion ahead. It’s incredibly well organised.
I really love being a mentor. All my fondest moments in my own career have been about helping individuals and just seeing people realise what they can achieve – or at least get rid of some of the self-doubt they have. I'm going to rehash a footballing analogy here, but my dad used to say I'm a good midfielder – the one you barely know is on the field because they're just making their passes and leaving the glory to a couple of people. And I think it's kind of similar, right? You work together and figure out what strengths and objectives the person on the other side of the table has. Because really, they're the only one that can change those things. The joy at the end of this is watching somebody else feel more confident in their own skin. It feels great knowing I'm helping to bring about change.
For more information click here or contact Maria.May@moving-ahead.org