Northern Ireland Day 2

Today we handed over the blog to our participants for their perspectives on how mentoring could help build their businesses. Read below thoughts from mentees Nisreen, Rosette and Gaella.

Nisreen Musleh, Palestine

 

Nisreen, right, with mentor Geraldine McAteer

It is always reassuring to know that you are not the only one facing such challenges at work, and that others from around the world are also confronting and working through them. That sense of commonality is what I really like about the Global Ambassadors Program. It has brought together diverse experience and expertise: Not just from us as mentees and the mentors, but from the organizers and the staff on the support team.

The mix of expertise within such a group really raises the quality of the discussion, so I find myself relating these different discussions to critical issues I need to address in my own business planning.

During the one-on-one mentoring session, I found out that some of the approaches and strategies that I have recently adopted, which I thought were unique to me, were actually already practiced here amongst my cohort.


Rosette Rugamba, Rwanda

Rosette, left, with mentor Samar Haj Hassan

I was nervous about what the Global Ambassadors Program was going to be like — and yet today it exceeded all my expectations.

Listening to the stories in the room from both the mentors and mentees made me want to fly back home and implement immediately — it created a real sense of urgency.

There were certain new key phrases that I heard that really inspired me:

1. Failure is not an option

2. Staying the course

3. Know where you started and where you need to go 

My mentor is a perfect match. She’s a great listener and assessed my business needs and gave me specific solutions right away as if she has known me all my life.

Together today we found a number of business solutions: How to find talent for my company; and how to address the issue of delegating and dividing up roles, and how to find the right kind of business partners. In the words of my mentor: “Working on your own will never get you far.”


Gaella Gottwald, Croatia

Gaella, left, with mentor Kathleen Holland.

I have never been officially mentored before and only now have I realized what mentoring entails and what I have been missing. It is an incredible bonding and learning experience.

The information I learned in one day is almost overwhelming…I am both inspired and comforted. On the one hand I see the magnitude and diversity of the problems we mentees face in our various countries and yet I also see the similarity of our approaches. I do not feel alone in my mission anymore.

My mentor Kathleen Holland is exactly who I needed. In one session she has exceeded all my expectations. I feel that she understands me and I am more confident as a result. I have faith that my vision for my new business will materialize with her insight and guidance.

I am still designing my new business so I am just at the beginning stage of thinking through my strategy. Through the input and advice of these other successful business women, I know that my new business will grow successfully.