May 2023 – Sue Till
news published date 24 May 2023Sue Till has almost 40 years’ experience working in financial services for a FTSE 100 business with over 50,000 employees. For 7 years she has been an in-house coach for the NatWest Group and Coutts Private Bank and since April 2022 she has focused full time on private coaching practice.
Sue has been awarded Mentor of the month for May 2023. We asked her a few questions about her mentoring process and spoke to her mentee Emily Blain, People & Operations Director at Fintel, who felt a renewed sense of ambition after being mentored by Sue.
How long have you been involved with WIBF and what prompted you to join the mentoring programme?
I have been involved for about 1 year pre COVID then I got involved again in summer 2022. A colleague asked me to be a mentor the first time and then having left the financial services sector last year and as a coach and mentor it felt right to give back into the sector I have been in for 40 years.
As a mentor what do you get out of the process?
Meeting new people and being in a position to share my experiences and knowledge while learning about others. Over the years I have mentored people. It has helped me develop leadership skills when I have needed it and gain a personal sense of satisfaction.
What do you feel you have helped your mentees achieve through mentoring?
By sharing relevant knowledge and expertise I believe this helps them reference their thinking as they look at where they are in their careers and where they want to go next. I display a positive attitude and enthusiasm which I hope inspires the mentees. I will always be honest and provide constructive feedback when and where necessary ; exhibit active listening skills, show a growth mindset and above all have some fun.
Have you been mentored yourself and what was that experience like?
Yes and I still have two mentors for different reasons. One helps me on the business development side and the other has been with me for about 18 months and has walked the walk with me as I left the sector and started my own business. My mentors see more talent and ability within me than I see in myself and they have helped me bring it out of myself.
What would you tell someone who is considering becoming a mentor?
As well as the above, I think ultimately a mentor must build trust, establish goals, take action and celebrate successes too. Make sure you can commit the time and energy to the mentee is important too.
Emily Blain
How long have you been involved with WIBF and what prompted you to join the mentoring programme?
I joined WIBF about a year ago specifically because I was looking to gain some mentoring support.
What did you want to get out of the mentoring programme?
I’m quite a self-starter anyway but I wasn’t feeling particularly content in my role and to challenge myself I wanted to understand if there was anything more I could be doing to be happier and more content in my career. I wanted to get a deeper understanding and insight about what I want to achieve from my career/working life.
What did you get out of the programme and can you explain the process?
We met on average about once a month for 4 months in total, but Sue was always available if I needed her on an ad hoc basis also. Sue was very good at prompting me to think about things differently and challenging me on some of my existing assumptions. Sue helped me to really solidify in my own mind what is important to me and where I want to go and what I want to achieve in my career.
What’s next for you professionally?
I received a promotion towards the end of mine and Sue’s time together with a clear action plan for achievement in my newly expanded role so it felt like a natural time to close down the mentoring relationship at that point. I have a renewed sense of ambition and feel that the sky is the limit!
What advice do you have for anyone considering joining the WIBF mentoring programme?
I would recommend it for anyone who is looking to develop themselves. I find that women in business are always so busy and focused on everyone else that it’s really nice to take an hour out that is dedicated to talking about you and what you want to achieve. It’s also great to have someone challenge your views and perceptions, to give another perspective and prompt you to think differently than you otherwise might.
Congratulations to Sue for being a great mentor and to Emily for sharing her story- if this has inspired you to join our mentoring programme, you can become a mentor whether you are a WIBF member or not. Find out more here.
If you are a WIBF member and would like a mentor to help guide you , you can find out more and sign up here.