Alli Wilson from Jellyfish tells us she’s already taken her new coaching skills back to the workplace.
I thoroughly enjoyed the programme and it’s actually helped me learn a lot about myself. I found out that I’m actually quite good at mentoring and coaching and I really enjoy doing it. I really felt such an incredible sense of satisfaction - being able to help someone in their journey and being that support and mentor for someone - so it’s been really beneficial from both a personal and a company perspective.
“I absolutely recommend doing the programme. Bite the bullet and give it a go because it is really rewarding, not just for the mentee, but also for yourself as well.”
Supporting a young person
I had a great mentee, she was really shy, very, very quietly spoken and very nervous I think to start with, and actually that was a really nice benefit of the programme was seeing her come out of her shell over the course of the six weeks.
She was really interested in a very rare role - she was interested in being a behavioural intelligence advisor which is in effect a criminal profiler, and we were matched up really well actually, because I studied criminology and forensic science when I was at university so I’ve got a real interest in that field anyway.
It also meant that when I was doing the research into the role and pathways and also contacting a sector mentor, I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it because it was right up my street!
Because it’s such a rare role, there are only three of them in the entire UK, which in a way made it easier to find someone to speak to!
It was made very clear to her, and she was very clear, that while she is interested in that field, she may not end being that specific role that was interested in, but we certainly explored all of the other options that were available in the same industry
For example, forensic psychology is the route that she’s ended up going down because that can be applied in future career paths, particularly when choosing Masters degrees and things like that.
The other thing that was really good was we managed to find a seminar that was run by one of the three behavioural intelligence advisors in the UK which happened to run during the period that we were doing our course, and that was fantastic. She and I both joined that in our own time and watched this seminar which was really beneficial, and I don’t think she would have necessarily known to do that or found that had it not been for the programme.
A worthwhile investment.
The biggest struggle I had probably had was that she was very shy, which I probably also was at 16/17 years of age, speaking to a stranger on zoom! I was also a little bit nervous, speaking to a teenager and wondering how I was going to fit it all in with my workload. But actually, while it did take a couple of hours of my time, it wasn’t overbearing, it’s not a huge time sink at all, and the benefit that you get from it is just so totally worth it.
“While it did take a couple of hours of my time, it wasn’t overbearing, it’s not a huge time sink at all, and the benefit that you get from it is just so totally worth it.”
Learnings for the workplace
I can absolutely transfer the skills and development that I have experienced over the course of the programme and apply that back into my own team members - in fact I think I’ve probably already started doing that.
It’s not only helped me develop myself but it’s also given me some ideas for things that I would like to do as well in terms of self development and volunteering in other programmes..
My top tip for someone about to embark on this - just to read the materials. I went into it feeling that I probably wasn’t equipped or knowledgeable enough to guide someone through with all of the answers that they need to make their life decisions, and actually, with all of the resources Future Frontiers provides, it was a really easy process, as long as you’re reading, watching all the videos and just keeping up to speed with the weekly programmes.
I absolutely recommend doing the programme. Bite the bullet and give it a go because it is really rewarding, not just for the mentee, but also for yourself as well.
The Future Frontiers coaching programme can make a life-changing difference to young people and our business partners and coaches provide essential input and support.
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