Volunteer Story - Shizuka Suga

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Shizuka Suga, CFA
Research Director

 

Volunteer Group: CFA UK Mentoring Programme 2020 - Mentor
The Mentoring Programme 2020 saw 85 pairs of mentors and mentees matched during lockdown and continue to thrive and support each other for 6 months.

Why did you choose to step forward as a mentor in 2020?
I heard of the mentoring program from former mentors and was immediately drawn to it. It is such a satisfying experience to help your mentee unlock the next step of their career. 

What have you learned from being a mentor?
I didn't expect I would learn as much as I did! Firstly, I witnessed how much is already achieved by organising and sharing your thoughts around your potential goals. Secondly, I soon started having ideas as to how to apply some of the framework to me. Lastly, it is such a rewarding feeling to hear your mentees reach a tipping point and receive positive feedback around their actions, and it makes all the mentoring experience worthwhile!

How did you help your mentee in their career?
I had 2 mentees this year, with 2 very different goals. A large part of a mentor's role is to be an unbiased listener that can use their experience to guide you in formulating your objectives and creating a plan of action. More precisely, the largest milestones in the program were to understand goals, clarify them and start working towards them via smaller short term goals. These are then monitored, and adapted or enhanced if need be. Also, as this year has taught us, there can be quite a lot of unexpected opportunities that you can really benefit from as they occur, by creating a new action plan around these too!

Do you want to feel rewarded like Shizuka by becoming a Mentor?