Well the first meeting came and went and we had a fantastic evening with a presentation by DR Ranjit Manghnani on a less well known version of our profession, Reverse Mentoring. This was followed by an excellent introduction to the International Standard for Mentoring and Coaching Programme (ISMCP)from Dr Julie Haddock-Millar.
Feedback from our attendees suggested that the network should deliver opportunities to network with peer coaches and mentors and also to learn, supporting each attendee’s personal learning journey around coaching and mentoring. We will strive to support this wish over the coming year or so.
On reflection, I think the first event managed to go some way toward meeting the CPD and networking opportunities for the attendees. Certainly the open and inclusive style of delivery offered by Ranjit raised some fantastic examples of reverse mentoring that several of the audience shared with their peers.
Ranjit based his presentation on a case study where he has worked with a UK Police Constabulary supporting “reverse mentoring” to enlighten senior officers understanding of cultural backgrounds. At the force in question, young Asian PC’s had been working with senior officers and sharing their cultural upbringing and customs to help break down barriers and unknown factors with the objective of the senior officers being more aware of the cultural differences within the communities they police.
We were asked to consider other areas where we felt that “reverse mentoring” may have been used within our own working environments and several fantastic examples were shared. I am particularly grateful for an article that Elaine Graham, HR Manager at Daf Trucks, has shared where Kate Stanners, global chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi, worked with a 25 year old to help her understand social media.
Another area considered was around recruitment, helping a business owner understand what the millennial workforce might want and therefore improve staff recruitment and retention.
Dr Julie Haddock-Millar introduced attendees to the ISMCP award and shared the business opportunity that the award could provide to experienced coaches. For those interested in this award please view the EMCC International YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDMrJ04Mau8&list=PLAlXdhMygd9HLZi1JglojmjAB3j3LnDIX&index=2
I managed to introduce some of the projects and initiatives that the EMCC UK is running and outlined how, as a member, I had enjoyed working in a number of these areas. Active volunteering is a fantastic way of getting the most from your EMCC membership and I have found the opportunities that have emerged have widened my own coaching and mentoring skills and experience.
We considered several areas of interest including the EMCC UK’s own mentoring scheme, the EMCC UK specialist areas within Not for Profit and Charity sector, Education, Professional Practices and Internal Coaching.
To find out more about the volunteering opportunities attendees were encourage to visit the EMCC UK web site https://emccuk.org/?url=uk%2Fen%2Fmembership and search under the heading “Membership”.
We are looking to run the next event in late January or early February 2017 where our focus will be to provide further CPD opportunities and the facility to meet up with other professionals with an interest in coaching and mentoring.
Kind regards
Tim Anderson
