I had relatively recently got myself a mentor after years of not really knowing if it was for me. I took the plunge and gave it a try. It is most definitely for me. During the process I had spoken to several different people about potentially being my mentor and I found it much like finding a therapist. I needed to click with them, trust them and be open with them. Seemingly quite a vulnerable position to be in.
After around two years of being mentored, along with feedback I was getting from peers within the industry, I decided to look into potentially mentoring someone myself.
Step 1: I bought a book recommended to me. The Mentoring Manual by Julie Starr. I read it cover to cover, filled it with highlighted sections and tabs, and I continue to revisit the book now.
Step 2: Explore opportunities and ways in which to become a mentor. There are several routes:

• Registering with a formal scheme such as IIRSM and IOSH.
• Networking, putting it out there that I’m open to mentoring.
• Waiting for someone to approach me to be their mentor.

For me on my personal mentee journey, I put out a call to a small network of professionals and I landed my current mentor.
Step 3: I have not registered with a formal scheme. That’s not to say I won’t but I was approached directly to be a mentor by Jenny Darlington.
Jenny and I agreed that navigating the mentor/mentee world seemed strange. Although formal schemes are out there…it seemed a little, well, formal! We wanted to emphasise the fact that having a mentor/mentee relationship can in fact be as formal or as informal as desired.
We put more thought into this and decided to share our journey on social media (LinkedIn) with a couple of objectives in mind:

• We are accountable for our journey.
• We want to make mentoring understood and accessible to everyone.
• We wanted our journey to reach people outside of health and safety risk management.
• We want to get more and more people involved by taking away formalities.

Session 1

We initially met for a socialise tied this in with supporting Jenny on her IOSH Blueprint. Jenny has a top personality, I love that she isn’t afraid to ask for help and clarity, no fear of vulnerability in her professional capacity. Conversation moved on and Jenny talked about some goals she has in mind (These will be shared on Jenny’s blog so be sure the check that out too). (INSERT LINK). Jenny asked me to be her mentor…well it was more ‘You can be my mentor!’ (Now I look back she didn’t ask at all ha ha).
For me, this was about taking the plunge, my first ‘official’ mentee. I have informally supported and mentored people in the past and will always do this whenever I can. Jenny and I are on this journey together. Ironing out the kinks and working on how, not only we are developing ourselves, but how we can help others in this process.
We talked about what Jenny wanted out of a mentor, things she wanted to achieve, the drive in her career and so much more. It was important for me, at that first step, to understand what Jenny wanted and needed out of a mentor and whether I could be part of her journey. I had to be realistic with it, honest with myself, was I comfortable with what Jenny wanted and needed? I’d like to think I know Jenny quite well both personally and professionally but from our first session I learned so much more.

Reflection

I asked Jenny to make sure she privately reflected on our first session and that it was possible to record as CPD if she wished to do so.
I made sure to reflect on the session from my point of view and have provided an overview in the simple table below.
What went well...

• Open conversation between us, sharing honestly any relevant strengths and weaknesses.
• Relaxed atmosphere. Not meeting in the workplace helped squash any formalities.
• Clear goals identified and Jenny was clear on how she would like my support.
• Agreed date for our next meeting (Venue TBC – Likely to include wine again).

Even Better If...
I had been more prepared. I can improve this for the next session by understanding what topics I’d like to touch on from the last session. 
There are private reflections, that are just that, and will remain for my personal use and potentially discussion with my own mentor to further learn and develop as an individual.

The Future

I have absolute faith in Jenny’s career journey, she is already such an influencer in health and safety, her knowledge is on point and she is very personable (will talk to anyone!).
Our next meeting will be brilliant (I’ve had a good recommendation for a red wine) and I’m looking forward to a full reflection at the end of 2023 to see how far Jenny has come in just 12 months.
Cheers Jenny Darlington TechIOSH .