Lachlan and Lorilen are a mentoring pair in the Woolworths Mentoring Program. Mentee Lachlan Agius is an Accountant in Corporate Finance Shared Services while mentor Lorilen Canlas is a Business Analyst. They’ve recently taken some time to share with us the secrets to their successful mentoring relationship and some advice for those new to mentoring.
What do you think the ‘secret’ is to a good mentoring relationship?
Lachlan: Clearly communicating your goals with your mentor and what you hope to gain from the mentoring relationship.
Lorilen: In any relationship, whether mentoring or not, I think the ‘secret’ is not really a secret but you must apply the golden rule of ‘Treat Others as How You Would Like to be Treated’. As a mentor, I value my mentee as a person and constantly communicate with him not positioning myself as someone greater but as someone whom he can trust and rely on to be able to guide or provide advice if he needs it.
What is one way that mentoring has changed your professional or personal life – or for your mentoring match!
Lachlan: Mentoring has exposed me to areas of the business, I didn’t know about. Definitely gives you an appreciation for the behind-the-scenes work going on.
Lorilen: I think mentoring gives you someone that you can call a ‘Career Confidant’ which makes it easy for you to share matters that are sometimes not usually shared with a common colleague such as challenges, aspirations, etc. Being a mentor also makes you proud to know about the success and growth of your mentee.
Lastly – what tips or advice would you like to share with those new to mentoring?
Lachlan: When starting a mentoring relationship be open-minded and don’t have any preconceptions about your mentor.
Lorilen: They say it takes two to tango but I say the first step is to go to the dance floor first. If you feel intimidated that you won’t be a good mentor or you may not be a good match with your mentee, just try to open up. Get to know each other first and try to also put yourself in the shoes of your mentee to understand what you may accomplish from the mentoring relationship.
The Woolworths Mentoring Program was introduced to foster a culture of knowledge exchange and
provide career development opportunities for the next generation of leaders.
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