Steve Wood (mentor) and Edric Taing (mentee).
Although he already has over a decade of experience running their family business, Edric Taing, CEO of SH Jewellery, still finds ways to polish himself further so that he can be a sparkling gem in the entrepreneurial space. He thought that having a mentor would help him become a finely cut entrepreneur, someone whom he could bounce ideas off, just like how a gem would bounce light to produce a beautiful masterwork.
Becoming part of EO Melbourne’s Mentorship Program, Edric found that “The biggest value for me is really being able to have a solid person to share my thoughts and ideas and current progress and also being able to talk without judgment about the challenges that are rising.”
As solid as a rock, a jewel in the crown
A solid person is what Edric found in Steve Wood, Director at Roaring Success and an author of five books. With Steve having written books related to business, Edric feels he has hit a gold mine as he sees it as an added bonus to their mentorship.
“What I found really good with Steve is that he's written a lot of papers and books. It's quite common that I would present a current challenge -- and it's happened a few times -- and he'll email me a white paper that is written or something that’s got research behind it with his name on it, which quite impressed me. We then use that as a foundation for our discussions, as well. That I didn't expect from mentorship, but that's been a bonus that's been thrown in there,” Edric remarked.
Edric is glad to have Steve as his mentor. “I’ve had business coaches in the past, but not really a mentor. I just thought that would be a good relationship and friendship to form over time and somebody to be able to bounce ideas off and workshop ideas with,” Edric said. “Some of the immediate benefits (with having a mentor) have been having somebody when you've got a challenge or something that you want to share. To some extent, it’s with somebody who's been there, done that and has worked with a number of different people in that field as well. That always makes the conversation and workshopping really smooth.”
To this, Steve explained, “To be honest, the only reason I’m able to do that is I’ve worked with over 100 companies. They've been my training ground for experiences, which then I just gather. Then, Edric turns up. We can talk about what I’ve seen in the past -- working with a different company, what they did well, what they did badly, in my opinion -- and therefore, options for Edric to consider for making his own decisions to move forward. So, I’m very fortunate that I’ve worked with many companies that basically provide experience.”
The backstory as to how Steve has gotten involved with EO Melbourne’s Mentorship Program is quite interesting. As a management consultant, he had the opportunity to work with EO Melbourne Mentorship Chair James Murray in his business. James asked Steve if he would be interested to partake in this program as a mentor and he willingly lent his help.
Cast in the same mould
Finding a common ground is often a good starting point for mentors and mentees. Although they only met in April this year during the first meet-and-greet for the mentorship program, it was easy for Edric and Steve to instantly find things that can tie them together.
“I'd say that in that first session, it wasn't long before we realised we had similar things. I realised Steve was growth-oriented and really into learning. Obviously, we're both in the business space, and we're looking at business improvement. On a personal development level, we ran a few exercises through that workshop. From that conversation, I felt that we gelled pretty well and the flow of the conversation was just really easy to be had. It has continued that way for the last few months as well,” Edric narrated.
Steve concurred, “I recognised in Edric a younger version of me -- a smart cookie, hard-working, leader -- all those sorts of things. I was thinking, ‘Yep, I like this fellow. I can help him. He's going to do the right thing by himself and by me. He's not going to waste my time. He's going to be in charge of the process,’ which he was.”
Even though the current situation has limited their face-to-face interaction, nothing has hindered their mentor-mentee relationship and the friendship that has formed along the way. According to Edric, “If I think about this relationship during COVID and if COVID wasn't to exist -- and in the short time, we've had both, actually, with our course -- the principle has been the same. I would say that the structure and what we aim to get is the same. It's about bringing what are your top challenges that you want to discuss and what are the updates that are going through. Whether in COVID or not, I think the help and the support level has been equal. It's really in line with that progress and that growth and just attacking things that are on top of the list to get done.”
Mentorship: a treasure trove of learnings
Both Steve and Edric found great value in mentorship. Both learn from each other and both have taken something out of the program. The learning process has accelerated as they were able to sit down and discuss various aspects of their lives.
Edric was able to pick up nuggets of wisdom and knowledge during the course of their mentorship. “It's like a compounding thing over time. Now, we've been in this for three-four, maybe even five months now, and I can feel that the problems that I’ve brought to the table, I’ve come away with more clarity of mind about how to address those things. Maybe in five months, there isn’t one exact thing that's to say, ‘Oh, I got this really good result,’ but I’m sure if I compounded that over time, the results would be really, really amazing.”
He continued, “Sometimes, even unpacking it myself as I explain things to Steve, I’m kind of working out solutions just by being able to go there openly and talk about those things. So, the biggest things or biggest wins and value adds for me are really having that relationship -- a solid person that you can talk to, get feedback on and also workshop things together in that mindset of growth, then improving things. That's probably my biggest takeaway.”
Steve is also amazed at the whole experience as he gets to learn new things. One of those that really stuck to him during their discussions is on the lifeline diagram. “Edric showed me the life cycle or the life stages diagram -- The lifeline. Again, that's a model I’ve never seen before. Edric talked me through his (lifeline diagram) and then I talked him through mine. What's very interesting is that our personal learning happens in times of good stuff, but it also happens when it's really difficult. And when it's really difficult, I reckon we learn actually more because we have to be resilient and we have to work out what to do and how to do it. And then, that builds our skills, our mental muscles, our physical muscles, and our logic muscles to be able to figure out what to do next. I hadn't seen that model before, but it reinforced that we learn in many ways and we should always be open-minded to those sorts of things.”
Moreover, Steve enjoins those who are considering becoming a mentor themselves, “I would certainly say it's worth giving a go. It's not about you or me as an individual. It's actually about helping others to achieve what they can do. And actually, that's quite a skill. If you're able to do that, that's quite a skill that you're building for yourself. For me personally, I get huge satisfaction out of helping others grow, helping others get through maybe challenging difficult situations and moving forward.”
There are many more gems to mine out of mentorship. If you have experienced mentorship, feel free to share with us your precious learnings by commenting below.