Last month, WiAS and Women in Platforms joined forces to hold a Speed Mentoring event for their members, kindly hosted by Bravura, who helped ease everyone’s initial nerves with a little wine! The attendees were organised into seven teams, with the mentors moving between each group every 10 minutes. The mentees were lucky enough to have a broad range of highly respected mentors comprising of Sam Seaton, Poppy Fox, Kate Erman, Ana Jordan, Ruth Sturkey, Dan Kramer, and last-minute fill in, Kate Webber, who were then bombarded with questions around topics which were each mentor’s specialism.
Some of the topics that were covered:
- Designing your organisation so that D, E & I is a feature
- How to build a strong stakeholder network
- Building a strong career in the IT space
- How to build a top 50 EMEA place to work in less than 3 years
- How to expand your network and spot job opportunities
Being an in-person event meant those that attended really got to connect with fellow members and the mentors. “So many events have become online that it was a perfect opportunity to meet some of our members face-to-face and talk to them about careers and topics which are high on their agenda,” said Kate Webber, founder of WiAS.
It was fascinating to see how the conversations flowed and every single one was different. As the evening wore on and the format took hold, the questions and responses became far more interactive, and the teams were more adept at working together, forming little networks within the wider groups. This format worked well to build those social interaction skills, both as mentor and mentee.
“It’s difficult to capture in words the energy and sheer joy that was the Speed Mentoring event. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ as a mentor and at the same time be humbled and inspired by the flair, intelligence, and drive of every single one of the mentees. These women are exactly what the world needs right now to motivate and lead us confidently into the future.” – Kate Erman, Head of Legal EMEA and bWell Global Lead & Women in Platforms member.
Building on interpersonal skills
Managing social interactions with colleagues in the workplace can be the difference between failure and success in a career and even in our hybrid world; employers will place emphasis on both interpersonal as well as technical skills when they recruit and look to promote talent from within their organisations.
“What a fun and informative evening. I have never ‘speed dated’ in any form (!) before and it was a joy to share my experiences with such a bright, intelligent, and engaging group of women and men. Some great questions were asked that really made me stop and reflect. The perfect format to learn from others and be inspired to action,” said Ruth Sturkey, Chair of the Institute of Financial Wellbeing.
WiAS hopes to create another event of the same type in 2023, hopefully with our wonderful partners Women in Platforms. It’s one to watch out for and make the time for. We can guarantee that it will be worth it, improving your confidence and making valuable new connections.
What the mentees had to say about the event:
‘The speed mentoring event was absolutely brilliant. It was so inspiring to meet a range of very successful women and men, who were all willing to share their journeys, including their successes as well as failures. All the mentors were so encouraging and approachable, and I took so many tips and lessons away from the whole evening.’ – Harriet Compton, Financial Adviser
“The mentoring event was a brilliant opportunity to meet with peers across the industry. It provided a safe and open space for us to explore meaningful issues influencing our careers. I can’t recommend this event for all women, regardless of where they are in their career”. Rowena Humphreys, Sustainability Director at Smart.
