International Mentoring Day 2024

When it comes to promotions and career progression, it’s easy to believe that hard work and achievements will speak for themselves. Adding to this, the notion of networking can be perceived to be a no-value series of stilted conversations, bad canapes and forced scenarios at mandatory events. Yet the ability to build a strong network beyond your immediate team with peers, customers, and industry stakeholders plays a crucial role in leadership and career success. In fact, our mentors and coaches rank it number two (behind self-awareness) when asked the most important area for their clients to continue developing following their program engagement. At a recent in-house workshop for executives and their mentees, the executives were unanimous in recommending building internal and external networks as a critical strategy for development and performance. They needed their emerging leaders to be able to step out of their immediate day-to-day and build connections with people who gave them a broader understanding of the organisation, insights on industry practices and a fresh perspective on some of the challenges faced in their roles. It’s not to say people don’t want to. However, with busy lives and heavy workloads, it’s understandably easy to focus on the doing […]

The McCarthy Mentoring NFP Scholarship is designed to assist a talented executive from the NFP sector to strengthen leadership skills, manage tough organisational challenges and increase leadership capacity so that they can better deliver their important work in the community. The CEO of Australia’s sexual, domestic and family violence service Full Stop Australia, Karen Bevan, credits this scholarship and her mentor as integral to her executive career success. “I didn’t grow up knowing people who did the kind of jobs I aspired to and didn’t have deep personal networks to draw on. I feel like this program helped a little in levelling the playing field for me – it made these types of roles seem possible for someone like me. I am grateful every day that I was able to draw on the support of a mentor to get me here!” McCarthy Mentoring is inviting applications for its 2024 Not-for-Profit Executive Scholarship. Now in its twelfth year, the scholarship is a unique learning opportunity for a leader who is currently working in the not-for-profit sector, and who would like to strengthen their leadership skills and increase the impact of their important work in the community. The chosen recipient will receive a […]

McCarthy Mentoring hosts quarterly forums where we bring together our mentors and coaches to discuss the leadership themes that are at the forefront this year. The conversations are always insightful, diverse, and energised, with a shared objective to provide valued support and guidance to leaders navigating significant challenges. At our most recent forum in February, some of our mentors and coaches in the US and Australia discussed predictions and insights on key themes for 2024, reflecting recent research and their own experience of what they are seeing in their workplaces this year. Here are some of the themes we examined: Managing High-Performance in a Tough Economy Managing high performance as economic pressures, political uncertainty and global stress levels rise require leaders to draw on broader skills. The tension and stress impacting individuals can create a lack of cohesion between employees and these differences of opinions, polarising issues and heightening emotions means that sometimes conflicts flare. Leaders are needing to reflect on their effective communication, relationship, and conflict resolution skills to manage this well. It’s also becoming increasingly necessary for leaders to build a people-first culture of respectful relationships and strengthened connections to maintain effective dynamics and positive outcomes. Mentors and […]