Since last Autumn, the Association of Chairs has been running a unique mentoring programme to support charity Chairs. In this guest blog, Lally Pearson, AoC London programme manager at the Association of Chairs, shares how you can get involved in their mentoring scheme…
The role of Chair is not an easy one. It can feel like the whole organisation rests on your shoulders, and that you are responsible for solving its problems. Because of your role leading the board, you’ll probably find you can’t always openly share these challenges within your organisation.
Creating connections with fellow Chairs, who are ‘in the know’ about what the role is like and can support and share experiences and understandings of where you’re coming from, can make a huge difference.
That’s where mentoring can help.
A safe and confidential space
With your mentor, you’ll have a safe and confidential space to bring your burning questions and tough situations to. Your mentor will give you their take on the issues at hand, share their own experiences and provide you with new perspectives, information and contacts.
We’ve set up mentoring relationships between Chairs/ Vice Chairs and Co-Chairs, and because of the unique shared experience that both parties have of being Chairs, these relationships are providing the support, advice and encouragement that so many Chairs find themselves needing.
The co-mentoring programme is funded by City Bridge Foundation for Chairs based in London or whose charities benefit Londoners. We’re looking to expand this service next year.
Equal partners
Our mentoring scheme follows a ‘co-mentoring’ model, so you and your mentor will be equal partners. You can expect to both act as mentor to your partner and be ‘mentored’ by them. You’ll both bring unique skills and perspectives to share with each other, and learn from.
How does it work?
We launched the scheme last Autumn and we’ve already had over 75 participants so far. We have an online application process where we ask you to share information on your experience of chairing, about your organisation and your professional and lived experience. We personally match you with a fellow applicant who seems like a good fit. This might be that their organisation is in a similar sector to yours or that there is a shared challenge and theme that you’d like to focus on, for example the dynamic between Chair and CEO.
Many of our mentors have also found that being matched with someone even where they seemed to have little in common outside of being a Chair has still been of great value, as it opens the door to sharing different experiences and ideas.
The opportunity of having a regularly planned and defined space to bring your experiences and challenges to, have a platform to vocalise and focus on them, and be listened to by a fellow Chair, is really where the magic happens.
Our programme follows a 6 month time-frame with meetings happening every 4-6 weeks.
We provide guidance on your mentoring relationship as part of the programme. We recommend you have monthly meetings together, which could happen virtually or in person. We will keep in touch with you during the mentoring relationship period to see how it’s going, and so we can use your feedback to help us shape and improve the offer.
Apply now!
The application process is open now for the October matching / intake.
We have three different intakes through the year. The application form is open for you to complete when its convenient to you, and we will make mentoring matches from our pool of applicants in the following months:
- October (for any applications made between May – September)
- February (for any applications made between October– January)
- May (for any applications made between February – April)
