Review: LSE AAB Mentorship Scheme 2022 Kick-off Event
February 2, 2022
On January 31, 2022, the LSE Alumni Association Belgium hosted its kick-off event for the Mentorship Scheme cohort 2021/22. It was an occasion for mentors and mentees to discuss their experiences and expectations, and hear insights from our special guest Helene Banner.
Helene Banner is an LSE Alumna and a former speechwriter of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. After a long and successful career in and around the Brussels bubble she decided to follow her own career path, became a speaker and created her own business called “Let’s Just be Imperfect, Ladies”.
The event started with an opportunity for the participants to share their previous experience with mentorship programmes to break the ice. We were happy to see that even some people who have not had the greatest luck with them so far, have decided to take a chance on our programme.
Afterwards, our keynote speaker Helene talked about her own inspiring professional journey that was always based on developing and exploring new interests and following her ‘why’. She built her speech around 3 main points of advice for our mentors and mentees:
1) You can only achieve what you can imagine – so surround yourself with people who broaden your horizon
Your network, your mentor and your relationships are your most important asset for your career in Brussels. If you have a goal, a dream or just questions, surround yourself with people who are already "there" – or ask your mentor if he or she knows somebody in that area. The people in your network will broaden your horizon and give you ideas to what is possible for you – because we can only achieve what we can imagine, right? Your job in the mentoring: to ask questions. To be genuine, authentic and transparent – you will learn so much about yourself.
2) Follow “your” career, not the “perfect” career
Rather than only following external success factors, such as status, titles and pay, try to find your own definition of success: what is your deeper “why”? What truly fulfills you? What actually made you come to Brussels? Make that “why” guide your career choices. Keep checking in with yourself: can I really grow as a person in this job or am I only following this career path because it is “expected” with my LSE degree – and because all the others are doing it? Don’t hesitate to make different choices, to fail, to try again, to grow, to shape work places with your talents and strengths – once you dare to follow your “inner”, authentic definition of success, you will stay true to yourself in important decision-moments – and your “external” success will follow automatically and visibly.
3) Use your mentoring experience to grow and learn as a person, beyond your career ambitions
A mentoring relationship goes beyond giving and receiving guidance, support and access. Because of the limited time-frame of the mentoring, you can use it to achieve certain goals and milestones together, especially if you meet regularly. If there is a trust relationship, both sides can also use it as a safe space to test ideas with an independent person who has a genuine intention to support the other. As a mentor, it can be truly valuable to not only be the “wise person” but also to get a completely different perspective on your own work through the lens of a young person and their life challenges.
After Helene shared her views, the participants were able to get to know each other a bit better during breakout sessions.
The event concluded with the Mentorship Scheme coordinators Deborah Rubinstein and Victoria Heinen announcing what type of events the Mentorship Scheme participants can look forward to, such as a training session (Q1 2022), face-to-face events, such as a drinks social (TBC) and focus group meetings for regular follow-up (every other month). At the end, Helene encouraged participants to reach out to her if there are mentorship-related skills they want to ask or learn more about.
