Be the mentor: Emma Joy Obanye - Peer to peer mentoring
This blog has been selected from the My Moon Landing Weekend training, Be the Mentor, and is part of a five issue blog series sharing a small snippet of learnings from different training sessions. Be the Mentor, featured talks from people who created their business to make a social impact, by developing incredible mentorship relationships, experiences and programmes. This blog centres on Emma Joy’s session, which presented a number of actionable steps for us to takeaway and apply, not sharing them would be an injustice. So, enjoy our recap!
With a background in the tech and startup world, Emma Joy Obanye tells us about the first company she sold, the second company she founded and the current company she is leading. Emma walks us through how she engaged/disengaged mentors in her relationships and when she has switched things up along the way.
Her key takeaways were as followed:
1. Traditional mentorship is invaluable but not for everything
Mentorship helped her on a strategic level
Sometimes mentors are generalists
Their time is a lot of money
Sometimes there is a hierarchy because they have this wow factor and it can be difficult to show them your weakness
Sometimes mentees want to portray themselves in the best light to mentors which can be detrimental because vulnerability is key
But sometimes mentors become investors and it is tricky to be vulnerable - which begs the question, so what do you do to reconcile these last two points
2. Consider mastermind groups for the nuts and bolts of your journey:
Emma Joy highlighted that mastermind groups 'offer a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability and support in a group setting to sharpen your business and personal skills'.
They require a few things to get going:
1-2 hours for the session
6-8 participants
The goal to troubleshoot challenges related to a specific topic or troubleshoot entrepreneurship challenges in general
Input from all members of the group
The benefits of mastermind groups:
Community and accountability
Crowdsource solutions to challenges
Share experiences and be vulnerable
Reach goals
Receive continuous strategic tactical advice
Exposure to potentially common problems in your sector
Emma Joy’s top tips for starting a mastermind group:
Find or create the right fit: look for similar challenges, subject/sector/area, many programmes and communities offer them
Structure (ask yourself, what is the goal?): wins and challenges; hot seat problem solving; goal setting and accountability
Moderated vs not: is there a dedicated facilitator? This is great for learning programmes or early stage entrepreneurs or is it self-facilitated? This is great for more experienced groups
Frequency: How often do you run your group? Weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Safe space: there shouldn’t be any hierarchy. Everyone should be given the time and space to express themselves and feel comfortable
Emma Joy seamlessly convinced us that vulnerability and honesty, through peer-to-peer mentorship, is the new black. So if you find that you need regular support, remind yourself that 'you are not alone with your issues’ - look around you, who shares your goals, put some structure around it, define the purpose of the group and meet!
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