The mentor program Has given me the confidence to explore new rooms within the house - Melanie Haskew

The Leadership Illawarra Program MentorMe collaboration with JCI Illawarra came to a close on Wednesday 11 September at an informal night of networking and celebration hosted at SmartSpace at the Innovation Campus.

Master of Ceremony duties were shared by Debra Murphy of RDA Illawarra and Bailey Bond of JCI Illawarra, and a number of speakers shared their experiences and gave thanks for the Mentors and the time committed to sharing insights and experiences that assisted the mentees in their leadership learning.
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LIP Alumni Melissa Thompson shared fabulous words about her mentoring experiences across the 2 year program and her LIP journey in general. Melissa regularly catches up with on of her mentors Chris Christodoulou and the connection was obvious when they met up at the graduation and in the image above.

Robert Kempton effectively and kindly spoke on behalf of the current LIP and in his collaborative and caring style, sough feedback from the LIP so that his words would be a reflection of the group as a whole.
Words of wisdom and new insights
•                Time at work does not equal effort at work
•             Have the confidence in yourself to make decisions and to give advice even if you are not 100 percent it is the correct decision.
•             Follow the “four agreements” - Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best.
•             Don’t always focus on your professional development as linear but also develop your community leadership and look for opportunities outside your comfort zone.
•             The importance of taking care of customers and changing our team’s culture to sustainably improve the customer experience
•             If you are lucky enough to have your parents still around, make sure you make the most of your time with them.
Benefits & outcomes
•             Learn from someone in a different industry and be able to take on the challenges presented and apply them
•             Collaboration between leading local businesses
•             The mentoring program gives you access to someone outside your chain of command to bounce ideas off and give you another perspective on our challenges, goals and achievements.
•             Unbiased amazing listening and offering a different perspective
The quote of the night, came from the humble and wise Melanie Haskew, who summed up her experience like this;

“The mentor program  has given me the confidence to explore new rooms within the house, previously I may have lacked the confidence to open the door or enter the next level.  I now not only back myself, but have set personal goals to achieve things I previously thought were out of reach and behind closed doors.”
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Thank you to all those who attended including Alumni and JCI committee and huge gratitude to all of the Mentors who donate their time and expertise each year.

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